Area Catholics gather to break ground on new church in Morinville

From left: Noreen Radford, Ron Cust, Father Trini Pinca, Bishop Gary Franken, Clint Whitson, Sergio Filipowicz, and Connor Whitson break the ground on the new St. Jean Baptiste Church in Morinville 35 months after the church was destroyed by fire. – Stephen Dafoe Photo

by Stephen Dafoe

About 150 Morinville and area Catholics and other community members assembled on the St. Jean Baptiste Church grounds on Friday evening for their soon-to-be-built church’s blessing and dedication ceremony.

Diocese of St. Paul Bishop Gary Franken and former Bishop Paul Terrio attended the ceremony. Franken gave a short address before signing papers approving the multi-million-dollar project and taking one of the shovels for the ceremonial groundbreaking.

Replacing what was tragically lost

Morinville’s St. Jean Baptiste Church, built in 1907, was destroyed by fire on June 30, 2021. The fire started around 3:08 a.m., and the church, which had been a significant historical and architectural landmark in the community for 114 years, was utterly demolished. The investigation into the fire concluded in September 2021. Three years later, it is still under active RCMP investigation.

In response to the loss of the century-plus-old church, St. Jean Baptiste Parish launched a campaign to rebuild the church and spent a couple of years fundraising, including selling original bricks and a gala evening.

Diocese of St. Paul Bishop Gary Franklin, in his address to parishioners and attendees, spoke of learning of the church’s loss and plans to replace it when he first became Bishop at the end of 2022.

“The foundation is already there,” Franklin recalled to attendees. “They’re building a new church because of their faith and the desire of the community to have a new church, and that is the foundation. The foundation is your faith. Your foundation is your desire to worship God. The foundation is your desire to be together as community, giving thanks to God for the blessings and asking for more blessings.

“Yes, the foundation is already laid, and now we look forward to the foundation being laid in concrete that we may have a new place of worship.”

New Church to have traditional elements

The community actively participated in the planning process through a church-run survey, ensuring the new church would honour its predecessor’s legacy.

Plans for the new church, unveiled to parishioners and the general community last fall, retain many traditional elements of the original building, including a brick exterior, a steeple with a bell, and interior colours reminiscent of the old church.

The new St. Jean Baptiste Church will blend modern architecture with traditional aesthetics, honouring the original structure destroyed by fire. The church will feature a bell tower standing 75 feet high, separate from the main building, to ensure clear bell ringing, reminiscent of the original setup.

The church will be about 8,500 square feet, slightly smaller than the original, but will include modern amenities and spaces for a children’s liturgy, choir, and chapel.

The central nave will seat approximately 292 people, with an additional 200 seats available in a connected welcoming center for larger gatherings.

This center, scheduled for later building, will include a kitchen and areas for events like wedding receptions and funeral gatherings.

Construction informally commenced on Friday night with the Bishop’s blessing and dedication, and formal construction will begin this summer.

Plans are to have the church ready for Christmas Day 2025, symbolically ensuring that the church bells will ring again on this significant day. That service will occur 117 years, 11 months, and 24 days after the bells first rang at the original church’s first mass.

Diocese of St. Paul Bishop Gary Franken signs documents for the new Catholic Church in Morinville ahead of the ground-breaking ceremony held at the site on Friday, May 31. – Stephen Dafoe Photo