Though it was originally constructed between 1897 and 1902, Langley’s Church of the Holy Redeemer is far from forgotten.
Heritage Restorations, a local renovation company, has taken on the challenge of fixing up the historic place of worship. Its latest addition in the project noticably towers atop the local landmark — a brand new steeple.
“The project will take about two days total,” explained Wesley Mufford, owner of Heritage Restorations. “We’ll lift the steeple up with a crane and secure it on the first day. The second day we’ll be repairing the roof and doing some bird proofing on the inside.”
Mufford has been involved in the restoration for several years now, initially giving the church a fresh paint job in 2017. The current addition came after the last steeple — an aluminum cross that was hand lifted in the mid-1970’s — blew off during a wind storm.
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“It’s nice it’s being done,” said resident Brenda Gabriel. “My parents got married here, so it has been part of the community.”
Situated on McMillian Island near the banks of the Fraser River, the church has become a landmark for people viewing from the other side in Fort Langley.
Built by the Kwantlen First Nations in conjunction with the Oblate Fathers from St. Mary’s Mission in Mission, BC, the church still stands on Kwantlen territory.
“There is the occasional worship ceremony or wedding now, but mostly the biggest use would be filming for movies and TV,” Gabriel said.
Mufford said the restoration has been a community effort. “DC Welding and Fabrication made the cross and Surlang Roofing helped put it together. It was built locally — we all actually went to school together as kids in R.E. Mountain Secondary.”
The new metallic steeple was lifted up by crane and safely put in place Monday morning.