With the help of a number of Cochrane and area faithful, the McDougall Memorial Church is beginning to rise from the ashes – with the donation of paintings, pews and even a Bible belonging to the McDougall family.
The mythological reference to the phoenix is also the fitting title of a discussion McDougall Stoney Mission Society planner Sarah Harvey will give on Sunday afternoon at the famed worship site east of Morley as part of Historic Calgary Week.
The 142-year-old landmark burned to the ground in May in a fire that police suspect was deliberately set.
“It’s quite shocking if you go there and you haven’t seen the remnants of the church … it’s pretty shocking to walk around and see it,” said Harvey, an ardent supporter of the church.
“We thought, with the fire, that we should go back to the church and discuss the history of the church, why it was there … what that church has gone through over the years. We’re not going to stand there moping. … we don’t want to sit and dwell.”
In the immediate aftermath of the May 22 blaze, church volunteers, historians and area residents began to discuss how they could rebuild the site in some way, shape or form.
“Literally, the smoke (was) still rising from the ashes. My phone’s ringing already that morning (from people offering), ‘What can we do?’ … A group in Canmore said, ‘We’ll do your windows.’ Six people … have offered pump organs and pianos,” she said. “We pretty well have everything except the church.”
Rev. Ray Goodship and his parishioners at St. Andrew’s United Church were one of the first to donate items to the effort with their collection of pews.
The First Street East church was in the process of replacing its old pews with chairs and had already sold them as a fundraiser when the historic building burned down.
“Once we heard about the McDougall fire, everyone who had spoken for a pew just offered to let them go,” said the Reverend. “Anytime there’s an opportunity to help and to serve, you just try to be aware and be open to that. This just made perfect sense – it was an easy couple of phone calls and everyone was more than happy to make that happen. The timing couldn’t have worked out more perfect.”
Cremona United Church also had some pews to spare after the more than 80-year-old fellowship was forced to close its doors earlier this year.
“We just had a dwindling congregation and it was just time,” said secretary Jane Rumsey, adding the structure has since been sold to the village and is being converted into council chambers.
“It means that our church is still standing,” she said. “You don’t want it to go to a developer … The first thing they would have done is bulldoze the church. It’s one of the few historical buildings in Cremona … It has a significance.”
Rumsey remembers hearing about the fire at McDougall Church and the plans to rebuild, and considered right away what she could offer up to share.
“It was terribly sad … I was just sick. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?’ People around town seem to have a very big connection to that little church. I’ve always felt it was such a special place,” Rumsey said. “I just thought, ‘If they’re rebuilding … they’re not to going to find anything that goes in that church that matches that era. The things we have – they’re from a newer era, but they’re certainly older things.”
Rumsey said the Cremona church was able to give over another gem from their congregation to the McDougall group: a bible that once belonged to one of John McDougall’s daughters.
“They used to come to church here because some of them farmed around here,” said Rumsey. “I think we’ve had it since … the late 1930s.”
Harvey said, in addition to the donated pews and bible, she has collected paintings, crosses, pulpits, windows and more – all of which are currently in storage as she and the society figure out what to do next. Nothing can be done on the site until the RCMP’s investigation into the arson is complete.
Harvey said ironically, McDougall Church was actually supposed to be deliberately torched decades ago.
“In 1922, they built a new church in the town of Morley. It had electricity and it actually was in the town and our church became abandoned at that point,” she said, adding the building went into severe disrepair – and horses were even living in it.
“Locals had already purchased gas to burn it down. They were just going to gas it and burn it down.”
At the last minute, Harvey said a man travelling through the area from Texas gave a donation to the church and saved it from razing. From there, it was another 20-plus years until the 1950s when volunteers – many from the United Men’s Church – began to restore the structure to its former glory.
“It was pretty lucky that people stepped up and decided to restore it,” said Harvey. “They were the guys that got it all going … there’s pictures of all of them with their ladders, fixing the roof.”
Those stories and more will form part of Harvey’s historical discussion at McDougall Church – which will also include information about the remaining cabin in the area, as well as future plans for the site – on Sunday from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The event is free of charge.
