A historic North Okanagan church has been resurrected and is ready to serve people of multiple different faiths.
Splatsin First Nation held a grand-reopening ceremony for St. Mary's Church, located behind the Quilakwa gas station on Canyon Road, on Wednesday morning, June 11.
The revival of the storied church was a two-year project. The project's timeline was prolonged because it was used as an opportunity to provide training to some of the band's apprentices.
The church is multi-denominational, meaning people who practice a variety of different faiths will be able to use it for worship and religious events.
Michael Christian is a red seal carpenter in addition to beng Splatsin's chief, and he helped start the project a couple years back, when he said the building was "a mess," with a sagging and leaking roof, no insulation and damaged floors.
"It took quite a lot of work," he said. "It was pretty much gutted."
Photographs of the old, decrepit church were posted at the entrance of the building, making for a stark contrast when looking at the freshly painted white walls, the extravagant light fixtures and the restored altar that serves as the interior's centrepiece. New pews line the church floor, and a kitchenette is now in the back of the church to accommodate events. An accessible washroom has also been installed.
The original St. Mary's Catholic Church was struck by lightning and burned down in 1916. At the time, the church was located near the Splatsin Band Cemetery off the highway south of Enderby. Families who lived near the church were able to save the bell, altar and some of the statues.
St. Mary's Church was rebuilt at its current site in 1918, using local lumber and with a design similar to European churches.
The newly restored church contains those original statues, altar and bell, and was made as true to the original as possible.
No one seems to remember when exactly the church shut down, only that people stopped going there due to the damage the structure had taken over the decades.
Christian said not everyone in the band's community is happy with the church being restored, given the history of abuse of Indigenous peoples attributed to Christianity, particularly in church-run residential schools.
"There's the people that actually have attended (the old church) on a regular basis, they're happy about it, but there's others that aren't overly happy about it, and it's because of what the church has done to our people," Christian said.
Despite the complicated history between the Catholic Church and the band, the new church is intended to serve a wide range of purposes.
"It is open for members to use however they see fit," Christian said. "Only time will tell as to how people want to use this building."
Graham Go, CEO of Splatsin Development Corporation, said the more than 100-year-old building required "a lot of upgrades" to bring it up to building code.
"It can be used all year round, it's quite a functional building. You can use it as a place of worship but you can also use it for meetings as well," Go said, adding he's heard reconciliation meetings will take place in the church.
The re-opening ceremony began with an opening prayer followed by a speech by band member Lawrence Bing-on Lee.
"My mom would come here Sundays. That's where I spent my life, it was in this church," Bing-on Lee said. "I'm very proud today to stand in this building that has a real strong foundation."
The restoration project cost about $400,000, according to Go, and was fully funded.