St. Magloire’s is taking a close look at its future as a congregation.
The church is holding a special meeting on Sunday, January 15 after its service to talk about the viability of the church.
Deb Bolduc, the incumbent warden at St. Magloire’s says they are facing tough times without many active members of the church coming to celebrate.
“We are only getting 8-10 people coming to church and there is no life in our church,” she said. “You need bodies in the pews, and you need life and singing. It’s tough when you are singing and all you hear is your own voice.”
The church has a proud history in the valley. Originally formed in Munson in 1911, the church moved to Drumheller the following year and constructed a new church. The first official records of the church began on January 12, 1913, and the first recorded congregation had 16 in attendance.
The church was officially dedicated on August 15, 1915.
In 1918, the church served as a hospital when the Spanish Flu hit Drumheller.
In the 1950s, the current church was built with Bishop George Calvert laying the cornerstone on May 25, 1955.
The strength of this community today appears to be waning. Bolduc says the church still has about 60 members on its books, but they don’t have a large enough congregation for a regular pastor, although one comes monthly. This makes it tougher to organize for funerals or hospital visits.
“We don’t have many young people. Anglican is an older religion, most of our parishioners are older, and no one is coming to replace them,” she said. ”I don’t know if they’re too busy or if more people are cynical about religions, I don’t know.”
“We’ve been struggling for three years, and we just don’t know what to do any more, we want to see what kind of interest there is out there.”
She said a strong church community offers support for its members and the community.
“It has to do with having a community to fall back on if need be. So we are there if there is someone in the community that needs help. Right now we can't even do our Shrove Tuesday,” she said.
Sunday service is at 10:30 a.m., the meeting will follow.
