St. Luke's held final service Saturday as three Anglican churches sold in Regina
Colleen Silverthorn | CBC News | Posted: December 14, 2021 11:00 AM | Last Updated: December 14, 2021
Fewer churchgoers and high operating costs prompted five parishes to amalgamate into one
St. Luke's Anglican Church held an emotional farewell service this past weekend with parishioners and clergy saying goodbye to an architectural and spiritual landmark in Regina's south end.
"They're holy places and they've touched people in really important times in their lives," said Cheryl Toth, an archdeacon and stewardship officer with the diocese of Qu'Appelle.
Toth attended Saturday's service and said it was tinged with sadness and hope as about 50 parishioners gathered for a final time at St. Luke's before the building is sold.
St. Luke's is one of three churches the Anglican diocese of Qu'Appelle put up for sale this year as part of a parish merger that will change the face of worship in the city.
In 2018, prior to the pandemic, a group of lay leaders within the church proposed a merger of five Regina parishes into one.
The move was in response to dwindling congregations and the increasing cost to operate large, often old churches with fewer people attending services.
The decline in congregation numbers was further compounded by the pandemic and the move to online worship as gathering restrictions made in-person services impossible at times.
"I think COVID might have accelerated it a little bit, but this is a trend for mainline denominations," Toth said.
The impetus is not to die. It's to continue to live - Cheryl Toth, Archdeacon of St. Cuthbert, Anglican diocese of Qu'Appelle
St. Luke's, St. Matthew, St. James, St. Phillip and All Saints Anglican amalgamated into Immanuel Anglican Church, which operates out of the former All Saints Anglican Church building on Massey Road.
"It's grounded in declining congregations, but the impetus is not to die. It's to continue to live. And that is a source of hope for me," Toth said.
The amalgamation meant the diocese had a surplus of church buildings.
It listed three churches for sale this year for a combined asking price of more than $4 million.
St. James the Apostle on Empress Street sold for an undisclosed amount of money to the Redeemed Christian Church of God King's Court Parish in July, 2021. It was listed for between $845,000 and $895,000. St. Matthew Anglican Church and rectory on Winnipeg Street is currently listed for $1.3 million.
St. Luke's Anglican Church at Montague St. and Argyle Rd., is perhaps the most unique of the three churches.
Built in 1962 in a soaring, mid-century style, the church is connected to the nearby hall by an underground tunnel.
The 880 square-metre church is a landmark in the Lakeview neighbourhood where it stands, and the 342 square-metre hall occupies a pie-shaped lot near the Hill Avenue shopping strip.
The property, which includes both buildings, is listed for $2 million.
Church was centre of family life
Diane Gingras attended Saturday's farewell service at St. Luke's, the first time in 30 years she'd attended a service at the church that was the centre of her family life as a child.
"I was confirmed there. I was married there. There was lots of family activities. My mom was very involved in St. Luke's. It was a real community, so there were a lot of memories there for me," Gingras said.
Gingras, now in her 60s, listened to the service from the same pew her mother occupied every Sunday.
"It was really important for me to go personally, but also for my mom," said Gingras, whose mother died in 2019.
For Gingras, the day brought her back to her childhood, when she witnessed the church being built.
"The building beside that was the hall and that's where we started having church. In the '60s the new building was built and it was really exciting to have something that, I think, for Regina was so advanced in terms of its architecture."
For Toth, she said the decision to amalgamate the five parishes is courageous.
"It's not 'we're dying.' It's we want to live and do God's work, and we need one another and we need the resources that we can bring and the energy that we can bring together to do that."