Mission Convenant Church

The Mission Covenant Church is located 200 km north-west of Regina and 2.5 km northeast of the village of Young. It was built in 1916 by Swedish immigrants and recognized as a municipal heritage site in 1995. The church and cemetery are maintained by two volunteers who are descended from the church builders. Services were suspended in the early 1970’s due to a declining congregation.

The Mission Covenant was formed in Sweden in 1878 as an offshoot of and a reaction to the state Lutheran Church. The Mission united several smaller Swedish sects who shared an evangelical and Anabaptist agenda. The early association was an uneven alliance whose factions advocated both conservative and radical positions toward Lutheranism. While the Mission Covenant in Sweden was forced to contend with the political ramifications of questioning the State religion and at times temper their criticisms, emigrants hoped that they would be free to practice their beliefs without government interference.

Despite years of neglect and the onslaughts of severe weather and woodpeckers, the craftsmanship of these Swedish pioneers is still evident. Of all the structures considered in our ongoing survey of ethno-cultural building technologies, the Covenant Church is an exemplary demonstration of old-world carpentry meeting new world materials. It is simple and impeccable. The wood frame building floats above the prairie like a little boat, its only ‘foundations’ being fieldstones that sit on top of virgin prairie. It is finished inside with fine fit tongue and groove pine. The exterior cladding is an intricate cedar siding over felt and shiplap. Despite the Covenant Church being a communal effort of only nine families, the 95m2 structure was completed in just a few months. Faithful to the Covenant Mission, the community was eager to distinguish themselves from the nearby German and Norwegian Lutheran communities who were also engaged in church building. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Covenant Mission was organized as an association of independent congregations without a central authority. With the local congregation dissolved in the 1970’s, the ownership of the Young property is uncertain. The local government has refused to accept responsibility for maintenance of the property on the basis that the land is privately owned by the Church. When asked what will happen to the building after his death, one of the few remaining members of the community said wryly, “It will go into the ground with me.”