BRORA, Sask. – A rural church north of Regina will sit empty on Sunday for the first time in decades – though it won’t stay like that for long.
At the end of June, Brora United Church held its final service.
“It’s been my church for all my life. I’ve been coming here for over 70 years,” said board chairman Dwayne Pearce. “The congregation just slowly dwindled down in size until there wasn’t enough of us to keep it going.”
With attendance numbers sitting below 15 each Sunday, the board felt it had no choice but to close the doors, and sell the church.
That’s where Christine Mickleborough and Travis Findlay came in.
“When we heard this was coming up for sale, we thought it was just perfect.”
They’re the last couple to say “I do” in the brick building and now, they’re converting the century old church into a dream home.
“It feels like a dream, we can’t believe that it’s real,” said Mickleborough. “When we heard this was coming up for sale, we thought it was just perfect. It’s not that we had our hearts particularly set on a church, it wasn’t until we found out this one was for sale that we really were set on it.”
The history is part of the building’s appeal.
“It’s been in Christina’s family for a really long time,” said Findlay. “Her great grandfather actually had a hand in building the church and her dad grew up down the road.”
The antique touches also caught the couple’s attention.
“We really want to preserve the character of the church. We’re not going to put any walls up. It’s going to be open concept because you wouldn’t want to lose sight of these beautiful stained glass windows,” said Mickleborough.
The newlyweds even plan to use a few pews as seating for their kitchen table.
“I really like the aesthetics of all this old stuff. I really like that they’re using old materials, this is made of wood,” said Findlay. “They built things so differently. They built it to last.”
The couple said their doors will always be open to anyone who remembers their house as a church.
“We plan on telling them, “Stop by any time. See how the renovations are going,” Mickleborough said. “Don’t feel because it’s closing that it’s any less a part of the community.”
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