May 6th 1896 to May 6th 2026

On May 6th, 1896, the first rector of Christ Church, the Reverend R. Murray Webb-Peplow, conducted the first service at the newly erected Anglican Church in Millarville, NWT. (It would be another 9 years before the province of Alberta was established.) He had come from England 2 years previously in search of an outdoor life, and he found it in the beautiful foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

The Reverend had recognized the need for an Anglican Church in the Millarville area, so he took on the responsibility of constructing the unique church that still stands today. It was built of spruce logs placed in an upright position. There was concern that the structure would not withstand the strong winds, so the contractor, Mr. Charles Shack, agreed not to receive payment until the building had been standing for 3 months. 130 years later it still stands, and its bell, a gift from the Hudson’s Bay Company, after it was unearthed during the construction of their building in downtown Calgary, still rings each Sunday morning to summon worshippers to service.

In 1926, the parishioners were alarmed to see that the unpeeled logs were being destroyed by wood-boring insects. The remedy: peel the logs and preserve them with applications of solignum. Today, the work of the insects is still visible in the form of exquisite tracings covering the logs surface.

The pulpits and the communion table are made of small spruce logs. Hand woven kneeling mats in front of the altar rail came from England, a gift of the family of Charles Douglas one of the members who assisted in the building of the church. The Bishop’s chair in the chancel was a gift in memory of old time Millarville residents, Joseph and Elizabeth Deanne-Freeman, from their sons and daughters. The stain glass east window behind the altar is a copy of Holman Hunt’s “In the Light of the World”. It was donated in memory of William de Vere Hunt, a trooper in the Lord Strathcona’s Horse, who lost his life in Pretoria on November 14, 1900.

On Saturday, September 26, 1920, a portion of the churchyard was consecrated as a burial ground by the Right Reverend Cyprion Pinkham. At this time a war memorial was unveiled by Brig. G.H. Bell, C.M.G,D.S.O. Engraved on a plaque were the names of those from the Millarville district who lost their lives in World War One. In the summer of 1998, the column was replaced with a large natural stone from the area to which the original plaque was attached.

On Sunday, May 10th, a service of commemoration and celebration will be held at Christ Church, led by our current rector, the Venerable Alan Getty. The service will reach back to the past and echo the voices of the original parishioners both in song and prayer by using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which is still the official prayer book of the Church of England and would have been the book used on that wonderful day in 1896 when the first members of Christ Church, Millarville worshipped in their unique church.

Everyone is most welcome to join us at the little log church on the hill at 10:30 on Sunday, May 10th to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Christ Church. A reception will follow at the Church House.