West of Fort Qu’Appelle, south of the town of Markinch, there are two Lutheran church buildings made from fieldstone. These churches are about 6 km apart. Both were built in 1907.
The first stop is the Bethlehem Lutheran Church. All that is left is a ghostly fieldstone outline of a church, standing on a roadside, plus a moderate sized cemetery. Alan told me that after twenty years or so in existence, the church folded. The remaining parishioners voted to burn the building rather than leave it to the elements. That’s one way to prevent vandalism, I suppose.
A semi-famous headstone stands above the rest in the backyard gravesite. I have dubbed this seven foot guardian on a pedestal “the angel of the prairies”. And I have seen more than one photo of this semi-known landmark.
A 30-minute bike ride away is the Wheatwyn Lutheran Church, that is still in use to this day. It does not house a weekly congregation. Instead, it serves mostly as a gathering place for local family reunions with a worship service two or three times during the summers. The Wheatwyn building is small, but very functional.