St Peter and Paul Church 1918

St Peter and Paul Church is found along a dusty Alberta backroad and in a spot well off the beaten track. It’s in a picture-perfect setting and the idyllic scene presented here is straight out of a painting. There’s delicate, wispy white clouds and powder blue skies, fields of golden yellow all around, this little chapel and a motely group of history buffs determined to know more.

We’ve come to explore, photograph and hopefully gain a little knowledge about today’s subject. Join with us as share a tour this fine old building and touch on its history a bit. It’s a quick stop, but long enough that we really got to know and appreciate its legacy.

This area in the southeastern half of the province did not become settled until the 1910s and even now there’s not a lot of folks here. The church dates back to about this time (1918 in fact), although a cemetery on the same grounds predates it by a few years.

St Peter and Paul Church, from 1918.

Built on donated land, local farmers and homesteaders also financed its construction. Many were of Polish descent and made up the (Catholic) congregation here. It cost some twenty five hundred dollars to build and that’s equivalent to about $46k today, give or take. Even in 2025 dollars it seems like pocket change and that amount wouldn’t get you a dog house in most places today.

St Peter and Paul Church is wood framed and sits on on a full concrete foundation. An upper balcony occupies the space over the interior main entrance but otherwise, it’s a very open form. The woodwork is understated, yet elegant. A confessional stands to one side up front near the Altar and two rows of pews flank the main aisleway.

The building is on an east-west alignment and the front door faces the morning sun. Windows are the traditional Gothic-arch style and of stained glass, which gives a subdued, yet colourful glow to the interior.

Most prominent on the exterior is the tall bell tower (belfry) and it’s in a traditional spot right at the front entrance. It’s said the bell of St Peter and Paul came by way of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1940s. Donated we suppose? Off a (presumably retired) steam locomotive? While not stated explicitly, one can’t help wonder.

Tall hedges surround the church grounds and they’re not just decorative but a good windbreak. When there’s more than a breeze you need a little shelter.

The whole area around is nothing but cultivated fields and they stretch off to the horizon in every direction. Township and range roads form a grid and divide the land into sections. From above it looks like a checker board of sorts, but on a grand scale.

The rear of the building, on the inside comprises the Altar space and it’s a later addition. It’s part of an old school building, Grant School District and when no longer needed (1940s) it was brought here from not far away. The two are now one. Even though it’s somewhat different architecturally, it fits in well with the rest of the building. Speaking of schools, the basement of the church functioned as one in the 1920s.

The first baptism at St Peter and Paul happened around the time it opened and the first wedding came a couple years later. Services were held fairly regularly here, sometimes weekly but other times stated as bi-weekly. A priest came in from a nearby town and boarded at a farm somewhere close by.

The congregation actually grew over the years, hence the school addition in back that we spoke of earlier, before dropping off quickly in the 1960s. Since about this time the church only sees sporadic use during funerals or for special services. Still, it’s well kept up, inside and out. It looks cared for…it looks loved.

The attached cemetery is still in use and the first grave here date back to 1913.

Country Churches like St Peter and Paul, were once common across the plains but are getting rare these days. We still find the occasional one here and there while out on adventures, but not with any great frequency. Some still see use, generally limited in scope, but use none the less, but we find a lot in a disused or even derelict state.

St Peter and Paul Church is not ostentatious in form or design and seems the archetype of a rural country church. There’s a sharply peaked roof, a bell tower, a row of windows along each side and the whole building is painted white. It’s a humble place, simple in design and beautiful.

Catholicism is and has been traditionally the largest single religion in terms of numbers, in the entire country. There’s some eleven million followers scattered from coast to coast and with the highest concentration in Quebec.

St Peter played an important role in the early days of Christianity and was one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ. St Paul, or Paul the Apostle was a teacher of the Gospel in the first century. As founders of the Church in Rome, they’re often celebrated together.

If you drop by St Peter and Paul please be respectful of the building and grounds.

In the attached cemetery.

This post is from 2016 and one of those lost to a system crash a while back. Hundreds of articles were messed up in that event and any still relevant will be brought back with updates and perhaps a reworking. The remainder will be trashed and forgotten of.

Know more about (new tabs): Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

They’re saying…

“Chris and Connie delve into the nooks & crannies of the Canadian Prairies. They detail interesting histories accompanied with revealing photos. A lot of information and work and the results are fantastic.”

Naomi Kikoak.

Random awesomeness…
Legends of the Fall (1994) Family Cemetery.
The Giants of Cathedral Grove (BC).
Calgary Stampede 2020: Cancelled! (the first time in a century).

Something to say and no one to say it to? Go here: Contact Us!

Date of adventure: July, 2016
Location: Eastern Alberta.
Article references and thanks: Jason Sailer our host, the book Times to Remember Acadia Valley and the Catholic Diocese of Calgary.

Looking back.

On an eastern Alberta backroad.

Thanks to recent rains.

Possibly a locomotive bell?

Rear section is from a former school moved here.

(Basement) The rugged old cross.

It’s well kept inside and out.

Little details that catch the eye.

From the upper balcony.

Bathed in the soft light.

It’s only used from time to time now.

A field behind the hedge windbreak.