Prayers and hope: Jasper's historic Anglican church looks ahead to building a new future

Acton Clarkin · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 09, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Bright and aboriginal connected a Sunday greeting successful March, Christian hymns ringing retired from the office of Jasper's Masonic Lodge, wherever the Anglican religion has been holding its play service.

St. Mary & St. George Anglican Church hasn't been absorbed by the world's largest fraternity. Instead, the Freemasons lent their lounge to the congregation aft the astir century-old religion burned successful the July 2024 wildfire that ravaged Jasper National Park and its historical townsite.

There are plans to rebuild. Some successful the parish's leadership, including people's warden Nancy Addison, person enactment guardant an thought for a caller worship abstraction for radical of each faiths.

"I would truly dearly emotion to spot a multi-denominational church," said Addison, speaking by telephone from Ontario wherever she is staying with household aft losing her Jasper location successful the fire.

"A spot for Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Jews, anybody from immoderate inheritance to travel and use," she added.

As people's warden, Addison's relation includes managing the church's Facebook leafage and replying to emails from each implicit the world. She says rebuilding the religion arsenic a much inclusive abstraction should beryllium a priority.

"In this clip of part and hatred and distrust successful the world, I deliberation you thin to hatred things you don't recognize and things that you don't know. If we were each sharing a building, that would facilitate conversations and physique bridges. We could beryllium an illustration for the remainder of the world," she said.

"That's my magical dream."

Early assemblage connections

The roots of the Anglican religion successful Jasper day backmost to 1909. A tiny woody boxcar was donated successful 1913 to enactment arsenic the archetypal gathering to clasp services. Other timber additions were added implicit the adjacent respective years.

Inside Jasper's archive building, retired Rev. David Prowse, flips done photos of the archetypal religion from the 1910s.

"The 2 railways were being built done the Rockies, and the archetypal religion was a log religion building. One of the leaders of the operation of 1 of the railways arranged to person B.C. cedar logs brought in," said the 84-year-old.

In 1928, a much imperishable parish was built chiefly from stone. It was declared a provincial historical assets successful 1985, as an illustration of the 14th-century English Gothic revival architectural benignant successful Canada.

It was a recognizable municipality landmark, tourer attraction and assemblage gathering abstraction until it was destroyed successful past summer's fire.

WATCH | Reimagining Jasper's Anglican Church for aboriginal generations:

That's the gathering Prowse remembers from his childhood in Jasper. His begetter helped support it, and David sang successful the choir and was an altar server. As an adult, helium spent decades arsenic a subject chaplain astir the world, earlier ending his vocation arsenic the rector of his puerility parish. Even aft retiring, Prowse maintained beardown connections to the gathering and occasionally led services there.

"My vestments, my robes, each went up successful flames. The stained solid astir apt ne'er volition beryllium capable to beryllium replaced," helium said.

Prowse has countless memories from wrong the religion walls, including starring a Sunday greeting work attended by Queen Elizabeth II during a 2005 royal sojourn to Alberta, which included an overnight halt successful Jasper.

In caller years, the religion played big to the section nutrient bank, galore plays and concerts and regular assemblage nine meetings.

A rebuilt abstraction that tin accommodate each of those things erstwhile again is connected the privation database of religion leadership. But determination is besides thing caller connected the list.

"A spot for radical to admit the community, the archetypal responders and the young antheral that mislaid his life," said religion vestry subordinate Glenda Cornforth, who has lived successful Jasper since 1942.

Cornforth was referring to 24-year-old firefighter Morgan Kitchen, who was killed by a falling histrion portion battling the Jasper wildfire. The thought of a dedicated abstraction to retrieve Kitchen has wide enactment successful the religion community.

Several of the church's stone pillars are inactive intact, and determination are hopes to salvage them for the caller building.

Early estimates peg the outgo of a rebuild incorporating each of these ideas astatine adjacent to $6 million. Since the church's security payout won't screen that, there are ongoing discussions to perchance excavation fiscal resources with Jasper's United Church, which besides burned, to rebuild together.

Officials from some congregations person met with Jasper's municipal readying section to sermon what a associated rebuild mightiness look like, and anticipation to person much clarity this outpouring astir the possibilities.