Description of Historic Place

The Saron Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Municpal Heritage Property located southwest of the community of Hagen in the Rural Municipality of St. Louis. The two-hectare property features a small wood-frame vernacular structure constructed in 1907, a larger wood-frame church with a broached spire erected in 1916, and a cemetery.

Heritage Value

This property is of heritage value as the first Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church to be built in Saskatchewan. Members of the congregation, comprised of Norwegians who had come to Canada primarily from Minnesota and North Dakota, formally organized in 1904. Initially, the congregation met in members' homes or nearby Harmony School, but erected the first permanent home for the Saron Evangenlical Lutheran Church in 1907. In 1908, the site hosted the first convention of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in Saskatchewan. The increasing size of the congregation led the community to build a larger church building in 1916. The property continues to serve its congregation with regular Sunday service in the second building. Early area settlers and congregation members are buried in a cemetery between the two churches.

The heritage value of this property is also associated with the architecture of its two churches. The 1907 church is a simple, vernacular structure representative of pioneer churches on the Prairies. Unlike most area structures of the period, which were built of logs, this church was constructed of sawed lumber. The tiny church features a gable roof, lapped wooden siding, and an interior lined with wood tongue-and-groove cladding. The 1916 church is more substantial and elaborate in design and exemplifies country churches of the period. It is dominated by a central tower and broached spire, characteristic of Lutheran churches on the Prairies, and is highlighted by Gothic-arch windows.

Source:

Rural Municipality of St. Louis No. 431 Bylaw 2-86.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Saron Evangelical Lutheran Church resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements of the architecture of the 1907 church, such as its wood-frame construction with lapped wooden siding, a rectangular and symmetrical form, with gable roof, two-over-two wood-sash windows, wooden tongue-and-groove interior cladding and wainscotting, and corbelled, brick chimney;
-those elements of the architecture of the 1916 church associated with its status as a Norwegian Lutheran Church, such as its tower with broached spire, gable roof, wood-frame construction, rectangular and symmetrical form with central entry, Gothic-arch and hung-sash windows;
-those contextual elements of the property which relate to its historical use as a Lutheran church, such as each building’s original placement on the site, and the situation of the cemetery between the two churches, with its monuments and markers.