MOOSE JAW — After 113 years of existence, Minto United Church will be celebrating its final service this Sunday, after finding a buyer for its building that had been for sale for over a year.
Minto began in 1912 after seven rural churches united their congregations under one roof. Since then, the building has undergone several expansions and renovations as the church sought to better serve the residents of Moose Jaw and surrounding communities.
Similar to other United Church congregations across Canada, the size of Minto’s congregation shrank over the decades, making the need for a large sanctuary and Christian education building unnecessary. In 2023, the church leadership put the building up for sale, and two years later, Living Springs Church Inc. acquired it.
Living Springs has operated in Moose Jaw since early 2023, after city council gave it permission in late 2022 to reconvert the building at 303 Coteau Street West into a worship space.
“It’s unfortunate that we can no longer use the entire space (at Minto Church) properly, (but) we’re generally pretty happy that our beloved building is going to another church,” said Neil Colmin, Minto’s board chairman, noting Living Springs approached the realtor two months ago about purchasing the site.
“There are a lot of people who have very fond memories … (and) very cherished memories of Minto, of the building and of the church,” he continued. “And those memories will be grieved and thought of and remembered very, very well.”
The church board is encouraging people with connections to Minto United Church to attend the final service on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and share their memories, along with the joy and the grief.
Colmin has attended Minto United Church for more than 32 years and says the congregation has always felt like family to him, no matter whether there were many people in the pews or only a handful.
“I know that our congregation is moving onwards, but we are moving onwards as a Minto family,” he said. “So there (are) a lot of cherished memories I will take with me — there are a lot of them.
“But moving forward, I’m looking forward to new experiences and new challenges with our family.”
The Minto congregation will continue to worship in a room in the building until it can find another space, an agreement that the board worked out with Living Springs.
“It’s a house of God. That’s what it is. And our Minto family can no longer manage the building as it is,” added Colmin. “And we are … sad to see it go, but we are happy that another Church organization — another family of God — can take up residence within our cherished building.”
