The Dorintosh United Church has a 91-year history and local villagers hope to see it given Heritage status. (Submitted Photo/SunDo Hyun)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Heritage Church

Council to vote next month on heritage status for Dorintosh United Church

Nov 15, 2023 | 5:00 PM

The seven years’ long work to get a local church granted heritage status will soon be upon the residents of a little village north of Meadow Lake.

On December 13, the Dorintosh United Church will face its future as the village council votes to approve the status pending the passing a bylaw that designates both the church and the ground it sits on as a Municipal Heritage Property.

“It’s a piece of history that will remain within the village community for years to come,” Village Councillor Sandra Bannister wrote in a statement to meadlowlakeNOW.

According to longtime resident Angie Henke, the church closed because of a decline in members and they were facing an uncertain path forward with a 91-year-old building.

“There was other people that wanted to buy it and move it and that and well, it meant the world to some of us,” she said.

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Henke, who grew up in the village and was baptized and married in the little church, joined forces with like-minded villagers and decided to do what they could to save the building they loved so much.

“We tossed it over to the…Village of Dorintosh and they’ve done the rest on the heritage thing,” she said.

According to Bannister’s write-up, the church saw dwindling numbers since 1949 and by 2014, the congregation moved to Meadow Lake’s Grace United Church. There was also a lengthy process in applying for status and tracking down the land title before having it transferred to the village. Now that the building is sitting there, people have reached out to Henke and asked if they could host farmers’ market type sales.

“It’s pretty small but they can have a few things like that going in it I imagine or whoever wanted to have a church service.”

Moving forward, the records for the heritage property will be kept at the village office and knowing the church will finally be protected, “means a lot” to Henke.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @jls194864