Saint Peter and Saint Paul Orthodox Church

The heritage value of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Orthodox Church lies in its age and long association with the local Romanian-Canadian community. Built while many of its Romanian immigrant parishioners were still living in temporary homestead shelters, “Saints Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox Church” was the district’s first church and, reputedly, its first wood-frame structure. Erected on donated land, with donated lumber, furnishings and labour, the church and substantial timber-frame bell tower speak to the importance the settlers placed on maintaining traditional religious practices in their new country.

The church hosted regular services for nearly half a century. Most community members were baptized and married in the church, and many have been laid to rest in the churchyard cemetery. Although the congregation moved to a new church in Assiniboia in 1958, they continued to worship periodically and celebrate special occasions at the old church. Extensive renovations completed in 1981 attested to the church’s ongoing importance to the community. Today, services are still occasionally held during summer months and the cemetery is still used. The community remains strongly committed to maintaining the property, which is highly esteemed as a link to the past and symbol of community identity.

Heritage value also resides in the historic integrity of the church’s interior, which retains much of its original materials and furnishings. The interior arrangement of vaulted ceiling, with nave and sanctuary separated by an iconostasis, reflects the church’s long-standing role as a place of Orthodox worship.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Stonehenge No. 73 Bylaw No. 10/03.