All too often history and heritage are marked by dates or by a physical element, be it building, monument or sign.
Unlike historical buildings, which no doubt are wonderful, the congregation of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Banff is a living, breathing thing, unbroken since the first Presbyterians in Banff banded together in 1887.
Like all of the congregations in the Bow Valley, Presbyterians in Banff first met in the homes of residents until they completed building a church in 1888 at the junction of Bear and Lynx Streets.
That church was moved to St. Paul’s current site on the corner of Banff Avenue and Wolf Street in 1929 and turned into a parish hall. Construction began on the new church, which still stands today, in 1930 when Rev. Dr. Frank Baird and Rev. Nixon laid the cornerstone.
According to Doors Open Banff, the church, designed by Calgary architect D.S. McIlroy in a style known as High Victorian Gothic Revival, complements the design of the Banff Information Centre, which sits next door.
Inside, the church has clean, simple lines with 1960s fixtures and a round, vaulted ceiling that offers excellent acoustics.
An impressive stained glass window of Mount Rundle and the Burning Bush, the symbol of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, greets people as they walk up the steps to the front doors.
But as the head of St. Paul’s, Rev. Clay Kuhn, would say, the 125th anniversary of the congregation serves as an opportunity to reflect on the people who have been a part of St. Paul’s since its beginning.
The congregation is small, about 30 core members, but each Sunday – and Kuhn said with a laugh, “we’re always open on Sundays” – the church fills with people from around the world.
“I think the congregation has always been small. It has always been a small core group, but anything small can have an influence on the larger group. You’ve got this group involved in the community, you’d have people involved in socials, hospitals, education,” Kuhn said. “Throughout Banff, you’d have Christians involved. It’s part of our DNA.”
A few members of that core group come from Canmore and one family from Cochrane.
One of the main challenges Kuhn faces in ensuring the congregation continues towards its 150th anniversary is relevance, and remaining viable in the lives of the people he serves.
And not just relevancy towards the congregation, but also the community. The congregation does that as it always has; by volunteering and having a positive influence on the community.
St. Paul’s, as it no longer operates the thrift shop, is planning to begin offering its parish hall for use by non-profit groups.
Kuhn has also taken the unusual step of installing two large monitors in the church, one on either side, in an effort to offer more through his sermons, allowing him to craft more of a story.
“So much of it is pictures with words. It’s a very different way of doing a sermon because as I’ve been thinking about the text, I’ve also been thinking about what pictures would go with this.
“We talked about it for a long time. What about the possibility of it? The feedback was ‘keep it simple’. They’re off to the side so if you want to ignore it, you can,” he said.
It’s a slow progression, bringing modern technology into what is a very traditional setting, but Kuhn’s goal is to keep people engaged in what is now a 125-year-old Banff custom that, along with the other long-standing churches in the Bow Valley, is an integral part of this region’s history and its people.
“It’s just people. It’s about people from the past and carrying the torch and making sure we pass on the torch as well and make a difference in people’s lives,” Kuhn said.
