Two of Jasper’s five churches destroyed by wildfires

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/08/2024 (766 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the devastating wildfire hit Jasper, Alberta, my thoughts went out to all the residents of that town. But I also wondered: What happened to the community’s churches?

As it turned out, two of the five churches in the community were destroyed — St. Mary & St. George Anglican Church and the Jasper United Church. (The Baptist, Pentecostal and Catholic churches were left standing.) Many members of those churches also lost their homes.

That included Nancy Addison, the People’s Warden at the Anglican Church. Addison and her husband were at a family cottage in Riding Mountain National Park when she got the news that her church and home were gone.

“I felt physical pain and tears,” she said. “We loved our church.”

As Warden, Addison is responsible for attending to the needs of the 15-20 people who call the church home. It’s a job made all the more important since the congregation hasn’t had a priest since 2021. But nothing prepared her for this situation. “I feel so out of my depth,” she said.

When residents were ordered to evacuate, church members scattered across the country. “It took time to track everyone down, but I’ve found them all,” Addison said, adding they stay in touch and support each other through email and social media.

Added to the grief and trauma is that only three of the church’s families still have homes to return to. “It’s a difficult thing to digest,” she said of the losses, including her own.

When they connect, there’s no discussion about what’s next, she said. “It’s just ‘how are you doing,’” Addison said, adding “we hope to see each other again.”

The loss of the church building is also a blow to the community, since it hosted meetings for people struggling with addictions and was also used for concerts and local theatre. It was also home to Jasper’s food bank, serving about 150 people.

“We want to go back, we want to be part of rebuilding the church and serving the community,” said Addison, a retired teacher who has lived in Jasper for 35 years.

Along with the Anglican church, the United Church, located right next door, was also lost.

“When saw a photo of the Anglican church burning, I knew our church was gone, too,” said United Church minister the Rev. Linda McLaren. “It was a massive wall of flames.”

Now living in a hotel in Edmonton, McLaren is trying to stay in touch with her congregation of about 25 people through email and social media.

“They’re scattered now, a diaspora from Victoria to Edmonton,” she said, adding about half her congregation also lost their homes.

Like at the Anglican church, the McLaren’s church was also a centre of community life due to its thrift store, which served many who lived in Jasper. It also hosted meetings by other organizations and was rented for family gatherings.

Roy Nickel is pastor of the Jasper Park Baptist Church, which was not destroyed by the fire. But his 15-20 active members are also scattered in different directions, and at least two lost their homes.

“The fire was capricious, it struck where it willed,” he said, of how it burned some buildings but left others nearby intact. “I feel sheer heartache for those who lost their homes.”

It’s too early to look too far ahead, but the three church leaders are thinking about how they can serve the community and help each other in the future. Nickel is pondering if one of the two buildings owned by his church might be used as a donation and distribution centre. And maybe offer their current sanctuary to the United and Anglican congregations for worship services.

“We look forward to ways we can serve and bless our community,” he said.

Addison and McLaren wonder if their two churches might work more closely together, including perhaps building one new church building to serve their combined congregations — discussions about that had already been underway before the fire. “The fire might speed those talks up,” Addison said.

The church leaders are also processing the losses. “You see people on news who have experienced a natural disaster, and you think how tragic, but you don’t understand the depth of the pain until it happens to you,” Addison said. “Now I understand what happened in places like Lytton and Fort MacMurray.”

At the same time, they all feel the responsibility of helping their congregations deal with the destruction, and trying to instill a sense of hope.

During a supervised tour of the town, McLaren saw the destruction first hand. But she also saw “grace in the many homes not destroyed—it gave me joy to see that,” she said. “It gave me a sense of hope that there’s still life here. Out of the ashes, new life can emerge. I want to open to how God can be with us on this journey, open our eyes to new life and to see what tomorrow might bring.”

There’s a long way to go before the town of Jasper is back on its feet; it can take a year or more before homes and businesses — and churches — can be rebuilt. In the meantime, the loss of the two church buildings underscores what those places meant for the community, and the role they can play in helping residents rebuild their lives.

faith@freepress.mb.ca

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