N.B. man gives community church new life while many more are slated for closure across Canada

The future of community churches across the country is grim, according to a national charity that aims to protect historic buildings across the country.

But a New Brunswick man has saved at least one of the thousands that could soon be lost.

Danny Legace has spent the last three years bringing the Boundary Creek Baptist Church back to life.  In 2016, he purchased the church, which was built in 1842.

The parish closed down for religious services in 1996 and the building was being used as a storage facility for two decades.

Legace spent three years painstakingly gutting the entire building and converting the historic building, which built before Confederation, into a vacation and event rental property. The new business is called Old Church Cottages and opened in January.

He says he salvaged as much as he could, saving the floor boards and wood paneling to incorporate into his renovation project.  His goal was to preserve as much of the church’s history as possible.

Lagace says the same can be done to save thousands of churches across the country.

“It does not have to be religious. There is a lot of things that people can do with these old buildings, if they want to put the time in,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It does not have to be religious. There is a lot of things that people can do with these old buildings, if they want to put the time in," he said.

According to a the National Trust for Canada, a group that works to save historic buildings across the country, as many as 9,000 community churches are likely to be lost in the next five to 10 years.

Dwindling congregations and a lack of funds has already forced the closure of many churches, says Robert Pajot, the group’s project manager for regeneration.

“So that is why when we say it is a crisis, it really is. Every community across the country is going to be impacted,” he said.

He says many of the churches will be sold off and some are likely to be demolished as congregations simply cannot afford the costly upkeep.

“That is always extremely hard to see for a community and for myself as a heritage advocate,” he said.

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He says that historically, churches are not only places of worship, but are also the heart of a community.

“Places for creativity, learning, living, children’s programming. They play a huge role across the country from small towns to big cities and when those valued hubs are lost, it is heartbreaking for the community as a whole,” he said.

The national trust is working with community groups across Canada to come up with creative ways to save as many churches as possible.

“We are not going to save them all, we realize that” said Pajot.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are not going to save them all, we realize that" said Pajot.

But they are keeping the faith that more people like Legace will step forward to save even a precious few.

Lagace says his property is still sacred in his eyes and people from the community are welcome to visit.

“I see people coming in and visiting the tombstones of their families so it is kinda neat to see that,” he said.