CANADIAN WILDFIRE! Iconic Anglican Church Eaten by Flames

“Jasper National Park is considered a national treasure,” CNN reports. “The United Nations designated the parks that make up the Canadian Rockies, including Jasper, a World Heritage Site in 1984 for its striking mountain landscape.”

Now all that is left of the iconic St. Mary & St. George Anglican Church complex is the stone foundation and tall chimney which is now seen piercing the smoke-filled skyline from its burned-out shell.

Jasper now has five remaining primary churches — Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal and United but no Lutherans. After nearly six decades of ministry in Jasper the Lutherans folded their tent during COVID, but they still maintain a Facebook presence.

As Jasper’s only Anglican church, St. Mary & St. George, could be considered part of Jasper’s critical religious framework.

While other community infrastructures such as the hospital, schools, and wastewater treatment plant were saved from the destructive flames, two churches were devoured by the towering orange flames — St. Mary & St. George, and the Jasper United Church.

Currently, the Canadians are not the only ones dealing with out-of-control wildfires resulting in evacuations and burned out buildings. Over the weekend the Park Fire burning in northern California was churning through 5,000 acres an hour. That fire was deliberately started by an arsonist who has been arrested for his alleged crime.

However, across the border, fire officials in Canada think that the Jasper fire was caused by nature through a lightning strike sparking a fire in the Canadian forest.

JASPER’S ANGLICAN PRESENCE

There has been an Anglican presence in the Jasper area dating back to as early as 1909 when Walter Leversedge, a travelling Anglican circuit rider, started holding tent meetings for the railroad workers who were laying tracks through what was then the small railroad community of Fitzhugh.

By 1913 the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway set up a boxcar to hold Anglican services for its railroad workers. That was the same year that the Fitzhugh settlement became the town of Jasper.

In 1914 the Rev. G. Provis oversaw the construction of the first permanent Anglican church in Jasper building a cedar log structure thus firmly establishing an Anglican mission in the growing town. Fr. Provis became the church’s first full-time priest.

The new church was named St. Mary & St. George to placate the two primary benefactors who helped make the building of Jasper’s new Anglican church financially possible.

The two main donors for the new Anglican mission each suggested a different name for the new church — one wanted to show their respect for the Virgin Mary; the other felt St. George should be so honored. So as a compromise the church was named St. Mary & St. George to appease both. Jesus’ Mother — the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. George — the famed Dragon Slayer, are liturgically honored by Anglicans as well as other Christian traditions including the Catholics and Coptic Orthodox.

So St. Mary & St. George Anglican Church was so named, consecrated and dedicated on August 2, 1914 by Bishop Henry Allen Gray (I Edmonton).

The Jasper church is not the only church named St. Mary & St. George in the world. There is also St. Mary & St. George Anglican Church in High Wycombe, England; St. Mary & St. George Roman Catholic Church in Totnes, England; and St. Mary & St. George Coptic congregations in both London and Plymouth, England. There are also multiple St. Mary & St. George Coptic churches in the United States and Australia including: Omaha, Nebraska; Scituate, Massachusetts; Tallahassee, Florida; Staten Island, and New York; Albany, New York in the United States. As well as in Beresfield, New South Wales, Minmi, New South Wales; Townsville, Queensland; Wulguru, Queensland; and Harristown Queensland in Australia. In addition, there are also two St. Mary & St. George Coptic monasteries in the United States — one in Oakland, New Jersey the other in Elysburg, Pennsylvania.

Jasper’s St. Mary & St. George was elevated to parish status 100 years ago in 1923. Now the Gothic Revival church congregation, which should be celebrating its 100th anniversary as an Anglican Church of Canada parish, will be picking through pieces of its memorable history. The devastating fire wiped the church off the face of the earth. Once the ashes cool, there will not be much left to find. The fire practically destroyed everything. However, the front yard sign was left untouched by the flames and is standing.

Wikipedia states this about the historic St. Mary & St. George Church as a: “… building significant in the human history of Jasper, as well as of the utmost importance for the architectural history of Canada, it was declared a provincial historic resource in 1985.”

Thousands of tourists not only visit Jasper National Park but also flow into the town of Jasper. St. Mary & St. George was a particular drawing card and many couples sought out the church for their nuptials.

The church was available for weddings, funerals, meetings, retreats, conferences and youth groups. The church and parish hall could be rented by the hour, or by the day, by the evening, or by the event. Prices ranged from $15 an hour for the parish hall usage to $750 to accommodate a full wedding. Insurance costs were extra. The church seated 150.

In addition, the parish hall could seat 105 for a sit-down meal and the undercroft could host another 74 diners.

JASPER’S CHURCH ARCHITECT

St. Mary & St. George reflected some of the best examples of English Gothic Revival in Canada. It was designed by Alfred M. Calderon. In 1985, the Alberta Ministry of Culture declared St. Mary & St. George an Historic Resource on the grounds that it reflects the 14th century English Gothic Revival in Canada.

An Historic Resource is the Canadian equivalent to the National Register of Historic Places in the United States.

Calderon was born and educated in England and then brought his English Gothic church style with him when he immigrated to Ottawa, Canada. Eventually he settled in Edmonton, Alberta before heading further west and finally landing in British Columbia.

He is known to have designed Holy Trinity Church in Metcalfe, Ontario (1897) and All Saints Anglican Church in Ottawa (1899) before tackling the Jasper church in 1928.

His other architectural works include hospitals, department stores, mansions, and the Jasper Park Information Centre which still stands because it is in another part of the Jasper National Park and not in the “specialized municipality” of Jasper which is totally surrounded by the national park.

A specialized municipality is a Canadian designation for a community which typically allows for the coexistence of urban and rural areas within the jurisdiction of a single municipal government.

The St. Mary & St. George Church was modeled after the classic 14th century English Gothic Revival country church with adaptations made to accommodate the picturesque Canadian Rocky Mountain setting while using local building materials such as using area stone for the foundation.

When the church was being built in 1928 the XIII Governor General of Canada, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, the Viscount Willingdon, was on hand to lay the cornerstone.

The Viscount also gave the church its hand-beaten brass processional cross at the laying of the cornerstone.

“A stucco and stone structure, St. Mary and St. George is an interesting building, with the massive battlemented tower toward the rear of the nave opposite a dormer and a small transept,” Waymarkings.com reports. “To the rear of the transept is what appears to be the five sided apse. Opposite, at the front of the nave, is an angled narthex beside a multi sided extension, likely the baptistery. A small wooden bell tower, set back on the gable’s peak, is open all around and has a pyramid roof with slightly flared eaves. Down each side of the nave are three heavy stone buttresses, each centre buttress extending into a small pyramidal roofed tower. Both building and tower are likely of wood framed construction, resting on stone foundations.”

The church was replete with “Rural Gothic” church highlights and accents. The exterior walls are covered with white stucco making the exposed dark brown wooden trim and moldings stand out.

The fire destroyed not only history but also specialized examples of craftsmanship. The various delicate and intricate stained glass windows are broken and melted including: the New Haven window, the Our Lord window, the Sir Galahad window, the St. George window, the Baptistry windows, the Chancel windows, and other windows which let in jeweled colored light.

But the church is more than a structure. The church is her people. The St. Mary & St. George building has been reduced to ashes but the St. Mary & St. George congregation continues.

BISHOP LONDON SPEAKS

Bishop Stephen London (XI Edmonton) oversees the Jasper church. He is a Texan, being born in McKinney, Texas. In 2003 he was ordained a transitional deacon in the Episcopal Church at the hands of Bishop Andrew Smith (Connecticut Suffragan) but moved to Canada and was ordained an Anglican Church of Canada priest in 2004 by Victoria Matthews then the IX Bishop of Edmonton.

In 2021 he was consecrated bishop by Archbishop Greg Kerr-Wilson (IX Bishop of Calgary) along with Archbishop Linda Nicholls (XIV Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada) and Archbishop Mark MacDonald (I National Indigenous Bishop).

Bishop London is very concerned about the members of the Jasper congregation. As flames threatened Jasper parishioners fled. Most initially headed west toward Valemount, British Columbia. But many have since relocated to Grand Prairie and Calgary.

Bishop London says his first priority is to locate all the parishioners.

“Our first priority is to track down and find out where people are to give them pastoral care and material assistance,” the Bishop told CBC News following the fire. “We’re struggling to contact parishioners. We’ve been in contact with some but haven’t been able to find all.”

The St. Mary & St. George’s Facebook page has since posted in white letters against a bright red background: “Only 3 members of our congregation have homes to come back to.”

The church’s Facebook page is also reposting reports and information from the Municipality of Jasper, the Jasper Community Team Society, and the Jasper Employment & Education Centre for the benefit of parishioners and other Facebook readers.

“We do know we’ve lost the church, we’ve lost homes, we’ve lost livelihoods,” the Bishop reflected.

The Edmonton Bishop explained that as the fire was roaring through town all he could do was follow what news which was slowly trickling through on social media as he prayed.

Bishop London didn’t learn until the next day about the fate of the iconic and historic Gothic Revival Anglican church in Jasper.

The news was met with disbelief and shock.

THE FATE OF OTHER CHURCHES

In addition to St. Mary & St. George Anglican Church, the Jasper United Church also met the same fate. The United Church of Canada is the largest Protestant denomination in Canada. It is the Canadian spiritual home for the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists and the Evangelical United Brethren.

“I couldn’t believe what was happening,” the Anglican bishop said.

Jasper’s Anglican church and the Jasper United church engaged in some joint ministry. They would join forces to usher in Lent with a joint Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper.

“Our hearts ache for all the loss our community sustained! While relieved that our church buildings escaped the flames, we are profoundly saddened at the loss of the Anglican and United churches,” posted Jasper Park Baptist Church on Facebook. “Some of our own church family lost their homes as well. We love you, Jasper, and we are praying for you all!”

Jasper Park Baptist Church, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and the Jasper Pentecostal Church escaped the flames. But church officials still can’t get in to determine what damage their buildings may have incurred.

As of Saturday the Municipality of Jasper released a street by street survey of addresses which show that the Catholic church, the Baptist church, the Pentecostal church, and the former Lutheran church did indeed escape the fast-moving fire.

However until Jasper is reopened for business and utilities are restored none of the surviving churches are holding services at their location.

“We have been told that Our Lady of Lourdes Church has survived the fire,” the Catholic church posted on its website. “Whether there is any damage is unknown at this point, as the town remains evacuated while emergency crews continue to try to save as much of the town of Jasper as they can.”

EVERYBODY GOT OUT

Thankfully the emergency evacuation of thousands of people was successful. Jasper Park personnel, emergency services, police, the RCMP, and town officials did a phenomenal job of conducting the nighttime evacuation while firefighters battled the encroaching flames. Buildings were lost, but lives were saved.

Parks Canada said in a post on X that there had been “no reported injuries,” adding that “approximately 25,000 people were safely evacuated from the town of Jasper and Jasper National Park. All residents, visitors and responders are safe.”

“That’s the biggest thing that we are celebrating,” Bishop London said. “Everybody did get out. We know that they are safe.”

At one time, during the height of the fire in Jasper, flames were leaping 100 meters (328 feet) into the air and the inferno was travelling at 50 km (31 miles) in a half hour or about a mile a minute. So far the on-going fire has burned 36,000 hectares (89,000 acres) and the smoke can be seen from the satellites in space.

In time the Jasper wildfire will be extinguished and eventually the mountain resort community will be rebuilt. But it will look different than it did. However, people will return to pick up their lives and the Jasper National Park will reopen for tourist trade.

Bishop London is looking forward to seeing that a vibrant Anglican community remains in Jasper to meet the spiritual needs of the people. But he said that the congregation will work in conjunction with the diocese to develop a path to move forward.

The St. Mary & St. George website states: “We meet every Sunday morning at 10:30 am for a time of prayer, worship, and Communion followed by a time of fellowship with coffee, tea, ice cream, and other goodies.”

Sunday the scattered congregation had no church to come home to. Many have no homes, either.

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline

CANADIAN WILDFIRE! Iconic Anglican Church Eaten by Flames

By Mary Ann Mueller
VOL Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
July 27, 2023

JASPER, ALBERTA, CANADA — Late last week towering flames of twin out-of-control wildfires met near Jasper forming a massive inferno forcing the witching hour evacuation of 25,000 people from the Alberta town and the surrounding Jasper National Park. Within hours the flames raced through the picturesque Canadian Rocky Mountain resort hamlet wiping out 358 buildings including the community’s only Anglican church.

The evacuees fled west crossing the nearby provincial border into British Columbia to escape the fast-moving flames which leveled the church and parish hall along with hundreds of other public buildings and private homes.