Description of Historic Place

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (Silvergrove) is a Municipal Heritage Property occupying a 0.4 ha parcel of land in the Rural Municipality of Leask No. 464. The property features a wood-frame, one-storey church with metal siding built in 1917 and located approximately 20 kilometres southeast of the Village of Leask.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (Silvergrove) lies in its architecture and the historical integrity of the interior. Built in 1917, the building has never been converted for the use of electricity and continues to be heated by its original wood stove. The church retains its original wood-frame construction and the interior includes its original altar, pulpit, flooring, ceiling and decorative features such as the wood window trim. The building also features pointed-arch windows with tracery, a steep gabled roof, and tower with broached spire, reflecting the influence of the Gothic-Revival architectural style commonly used for Lutheran churches on the prairies in the early-twentieth century.

The heritage value of the church also lies in its association with the Lutheran community in the Silvergrove district. Lutheran settlers started immigrating to the Silvergrove district in the 1890s and held services in the Silvergrove School until 1917, when the community built St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. The church was built on land donated by Adam Reidt and built entirely by local labour and funded entirely by congregation members without the use of any church funds. The church provided weekly services until the 1950s, but by the 1960s, as the area population declined, services became annual. The church continues to be used for an annual service as well as for special occasions.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Leask No. 464 Bylaw 7-1983.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (Silvergrove) lies in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the property’s historical integrity and architecture, such as its original wood-frame construction, wood stove, altar, pulpit, flooring, ceiling , wood window trim, pointed-arch windows, and its position on its original location;
-those elements that reflect the church’s association with the Lutheran community in the Silvergrove district, such as its broached bell tower.