Description of Historic Place

Zion Lutheran Church is a Municipal Heritage Property located approximately three kilometres southwest of the Village of Neudorf in the Rural Municipality of McLeod No. 185. Situated on a groomed, grassy parcel of land, the property features a wood-frame church constructed in 1896, a small wood-frame schoolhouse built in 1900, and a cairn.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Zion Lutheran Church lies in its status as a historic landmark in the district. The church’s towering steeple served as a religious beacon for the residents of the area and distinguishes the property from the surrounding residential structures.

The heritage value of the property also resides in its long association with the religious history of the area. Established in 1892, the Zion Lutheran congregation was the first Lutheran congregation in the district. The church, constructed four years later, was the first church to be built in the Neudorf area and is the oldest church in the district. The school was built a short time later to house religious classes for children every Sunday while their parents attended church. The Zion Lutheran Church served the surrounding rural community for church services, weddings, funerals, and meetings until June 1964, when the congregation merged with the Christ Lutheran Church in Neudorf. Presently, a heritage service is held in the Church every June. A small plaque remains on the site to commemorate the church.

The heritage value of Zion Lutheran Church also lies in its architecture, which is typical of the Gothic Revival churches of the period. The property features a rectangular form with one large open room and a simple symmetrical layout with a gable roof and a porch. Zion Lutheran Church displays a Gothic Revival influence illustrated by the pointed arch-windows and a centrally-placed bell tower that incorporates the main entrance.

Source:

The Rural Municipality of McLeod No. 185 Bylaw No. 1. – 1982.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Zion Lutheran Church resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements of the property that speak to its position as a landmark in the community, including the towering steeple, the large cross on top of the steeple, and the commemorative plaque on the cairn;
-the elements that speak to its position of a long-standing place of worship, including the siting of the church on its original location surrounded by an open, grassy lot;
-those elements of the property that reflect its Gothic Revival-influenced architectural style, including regular massing, gable roof, pointed-arch windows, centrally-placed tower, and eight-sided steeple;
-those elements of the school building that reflect its association to the church, including its wood-frame construction and its location next to the church on its original site.