Description of Historic Place

Emmanuel Lutheran Church is a Municipal Heritage Property located on a five-hectare parcel of land, approximately 16 kilometres northeast of the Town of Craven in the Rural Municipality of Lumsden No. 189. The property features a brick church with fieldstone foundation built in 1916 and a shelter belt of poplar trees on the building's north side.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Emmanuel Lutheran Church lies in its status as the first church established to provide worship services and a place for social gatherings for Lutheran settlers, who arrived in the Craven district in 1904 and established a congregation in 1911. H. Wellbaum, the church's third pastor, arrived in 1914, and was instrumental in the building of the church, along with Zehner-area contractor Joe Fuchs in 1916. The church was described as "one of the finest rural church buildings in the Synod of Western Canada", with a number of congregations modelling their own churches after it. While the church no longer has regular services, it is still used for special occasions.

Heritage value also lies in the building's architecture. Influenced by the Gothic Revival style common in rural churches of the period, the building features pointed-arch windows and doorway, front bell tower, witch's cap spire, and gable roof. The fieldstone foundation reflects local construction methods, and the brick façade with detailed quoining imparts a sense of permanence and prestige. The building's religious nature is also reflected in its interior elements, such as the altar, oak balcony, and pews, as well as in the Gothic-arched entryway. Although the spire was removed when the building was sold to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1971, it was restored after the property was bought by the RM of Lumsden.

Located on its original site, Emmanuel Lutheran Church is framed by a shelterbelt of trees, which distinguishes the property from the surrounding landscape.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Lumsden No. 189 Bylaw No. 1/91.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Emmanuel Lutheran Church resides in the following character defining elements:
-elements that reflect the Gothic Revival style of architecture, including pointed-arch windows and doorway, witch's-cap spire with bell tower, stained-glass windows, including the rose window above the doorway, gable roof, and the simple lines and rectangular massing;
-features that reflect local construction methods such as the fieldstone foundation;
-elements that illustrate the building's sense of prestige, such as the red brick façade and detailed quoining;
-elements that reflect the building's use as a place of worship, such as the altar, pulpit, oak balcony, pews, and cross;
-the building's setting amid a shelterbelt of trees.