Horse Lake Mennonite Church (submitted/Stan Neufeld)

By Glenn Hicks

damage

‘We lost every window’: disused church vandalized

Jun 23, 2021 | 7:00 AM

A family near Duck Lake has been left ‘heartbroken’ by extensive damage vandals have caused to a disused church building they bought recently. However, there’s hope the community will rally around and help deal with the destruction.

The old Horse Lake Mennonite Church, also known as the ‘1910 church’ about 20 kilometres down grid road 783— has been disused as a place of worship for about four years. Local farmer Stan Neufeld recently bought it.

The church has nearly every window pane smashed (submitted Colleeen Neufeld)

The vandalism was discovered Sunday.

“We lost every window in there basically,” Neufeld told paNOW. “They were chucking bricks and stuff from outside in and inside out.”

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(submitted/Stan Neufeld)

Neufeld—who has lived in the community for 40 years— says he bought the church so it could remain a ‘keepsake’ for the community, and as somewhere quiet for locals and visitors to continue to go.

“We’ve got a register [guest book] there and there’s people who sign it when they come through. There’s [even] a lady in town who goes there and plays piano once and a while,” he said.

Neufeld said they found empty beer cans among the broken glass inside the church Sunday, and a note that had been left under a rock that suggested the vandalism may have been done as a form of protest against the recent residential school discovery in B.C.

The matter has been reported to police. In an email to paNOW, RCMP said no arrests have been made and, with the investigation ongoing, they could not comment on any potential motive. Anyone with information should call the Rosthern RCMP Detachment at 1-306-232-6400 or to remain anonymous, call Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online at www.saskcrimestoppers.com.

However, Neufeld suggested he had little confidence the ‘kids’ responsible for the damage would be brought to book.

Neufeld’s daughter Shelly Ann posted a message to Facebook in which she said they were devastated by the damage. They had yet to set up their insurance after the very recent purchase. She said they were thinking of setting up an online fundraiser to replace the windows ‘before nature sets in and destroys it beyond repair.’

(submitted/Colleen Neufeld)

“We would love to continue our open-door policy in our little church for people to feel free to come and play piano, sing praises, read the literature and reminisce in this building that has brought so much hope and love to so many over the years. I know I’m not the only person heartbroken over this,” she said in her post.

She told paNOW the church has meant so much to so many people over the last 111 years.

“We have felt very encouraged with the outpour of support these last few days. We hope everyone can continue to enjoy the church for years to come.”

Editor’s note: this story was amended to make clear the full name of the church.

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glenn.hicks@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow