Description of Historic Place

Zion (North Southey) Lutheran Church, located on Grid Road No. 731 approximately 15 kilometres northwest of Southey, is a Municipal Heritage Property occupying a 1-hectare parcel of land in the Rural Municipality of Longlaketon No. 219. The property is prominently located in the open prairie at a gravel crossroad and features a wood-frame church completed in 1926.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Zion (North Southey) Lutheran Church resides in its association with the local German community it has served since 1926. Members of the congregation were German-speaking Austrians who had come from the far regions of the Austrian Empire and settled in the surrounding area. Until the 1960's, regular services were conducted in German. Construction of the church was completed in 1926 under the supervision of builder Adam Schaffer. A spire, clad with sheet metal and housing a cross on top, caps the steeple and makes the church visible from all directions in the distant prairie. The placement of the entrance door and Gothic-arched windows contribute to the building’s overall symmetry. The building’s clean architectural delineation is highlighted and contrasted by dentil moulding forming a decorative band around the steeple. The dentil moulding is restated inside the church as a highlight along the top of a low wall that encloses the organ loft. The wall is constructed with diagonal board paneling and batten board dividers. The raised pulpit, plank wooden door and window mouldings, and the interior stairway leading to the loft are elements that add definition to the plain but well-proportioned interior.

Located prominently at a gravel crossroad, Zion (North Southey) Lutheran Church is a valued landmark in the community. It remains a historically important cultural centre for the Lutheran congregation that was first organized in 1910. The church remains active and maintains a congregation of approximately seventy-five members who use the church for services and socials.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Longlaketon No. 219 Bylaw No. 2/2000.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Zion (North Southey) Lutheran Church resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements that speak to the Gothic-influenced architecture, such as the pointed-arch windows and door, the spire, the overall massing and layout, symmetrical fenestration, the steeply-pitched gable roof and metal-clad steeple with cross;
-elements that reflect the religious nature of the building, including the raised pulpit, organ loft, stairway and cross atop the spire;
-interior and exterior dentil mouldings, diagonal board panelling and batten board dividers;
-its prominent location at an open prairie crossroad;
-those elements that speak to the landmark status of the property, inlcuding the location of the church on its original site.