Description of Historic Place

The Peace Lutheran Church is a Municipal Heritage Property located in the Rural Municipality of Excelsior No. 166, 18 kilometres north west of the Village of Rush Lake. The 2-hectare property consists of a wood-frame Lutheran church built about 1929 with additions made in 1940. It is distinguished by a central steeple and Gothic arch windows. A cemetery is located in the northern portion of the property.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Peace Lutheran Church lies in its association with its Lutheran congregation. The present congregation was formed in 1926 with the amalgamation of the Christ Lutheran and the St. John Lutheran Church congregations, both of which dated to 1910. From 1926 to 1940 members of the amalgamated congregation worshiped in the former St. John Lutheran Church, which was built on this property in 1911. In 1940 the present church was moved here from east of Rush Lake and was rededicated as the Peace Lutheran Church. The property has also been the location of a cemetery since at least 1911. Services were conducted exclusively in German until about 1953, at which time English services were introduced on an alternating schedule.

The heritage value of Peace Lutheran Church also resides in its vernacular church architecture. Initially built circa 1929, the building received major additions upon its relocation in 1940 when the steeple and a rear extension were constructed. Gothic-arch windows and its broached spire serve to distinguish the exterior of the church, while much of the interior is uniquely clad with pressed tin that incorporates numerous Gothic-style motifs. Other notable features of the church interior are its gallery and tower bell.

Source:

R.M of Excelsior No. 166 Bylaw # 1-1984.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Peace Lutheran Church resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements which relate to the architecture of the exterior including its compound plan with rectangular nave, polygonal apse, square steeple, central entry, and gable roof, the broached spire surmounted by a wooden cross, louvered steeple openings, Gothic-arch 1/1 windows with green and red transom glass;
-those elements which relate to the architecture of the interior, such as the pressed tin cladding of the walls and ceiling which incorporates numerous Gothic-style motifs, the raised chancel, the tiered rear gallery, the fir pews and the bell;
-those elements which contribute to its context, such as the church’s orientation in the 5-acre church yard with cemetery, including headstones.