Manor Gospel Church
Manor's History
In December 1936, four students from Prairie Bible School came out to
the Manor School (located 1 1/2 South of the current location) for a
Christmas program. Seeing so many people out for the program, they
thought, “Why can’t we start Sunday services and have folk come out
for them?”
First they had to get permission to use the school. They went to the
chairman of the school board, Mr. Walter Hourihan.
Sometime later, permission was granted to use the school on a regular basis. These
young men were eager to get started, so on the last Sunday of 1936, the first service
was held. The congregation on that first Sunday was small – only 3 families attended.
Of the four students holding services, three were from Alberta and one from the
States. Herb Congo was the only local fellow. These men carried on until they
graduated and left Prairie. Herb Congo left as a missionary to Liberia, West Africa.
Jack Congo, Herb’s brother, then carried on as pastor for some time.
Then came a time when we had a different speaker nearly every Sunday as different
students came out, many giving their very first sermon.
During 1937 and 1938, Alden and Jean Stewart, the W. Watson and Francis Reed
families joined Manor. These were later followed by the Walter Pastorchik and Flurin
Nottal families and many more.
One of the hardships of winter was coming to a very cold building. The first person to
arrive built the fire in the old pot bellied furnace. By the time we were ready to go
home, it would be warm. The one nice thing about this was that the school building
was a bit warmer on Monday morning for school.
The old school house grew colder and more crowded each year, so in 1958 the
decision was made to start a church building fund. Rev. Don Crites, our pastor, was a
real help in organizing the building program. Alden Stewart donated the land where the
church now stands. In the spring of 1961, the basement was put in. What rejoicing
the day the big truck pulled in with the rafters. With young and old working as they
could in their spare time, we saw our church building being built. Many of the
neighbors came out and helped too. On the Sunday before Christmas 1961, we had
our first service in the basement and what a joy it was to meet in a warm place and
know it was our own.
You may be wondering why the school where this church fellowship first met and
where it got its name was called Manor. Well, there is a story behind that… Manor
School was built in 1910. Land was donated by William Johnson, and the school was
named by him. It was supposed to have been called “Manna” which means “anything
much needed which is unexpectedly supplied”. Through some error, possibly in the
Department of Education, the school was named Manor.
Many different pastors have served at Manor Gospel Church,
and many people have attended over the years. We, as a church, are thankful for all the
ways the Lord has been with us through the years.
Adapted from “Manor Gospel Church” and “Manor School” in Spirit of the Ghost Pine.
the Manor School (located 1 1/2 South of the current location) for a
Christmas program. Seeing so many people out for the program, they
thought, “Why can’t we start Sunday services and have folk come out
for them?”
First they had to get permission to use the school. They went to the
chairman of the school board, Mr. Walter Hourihan.
Sometime later, permission was granted to use the school on a regular basis. These
young men were eager to get started, so on the last Sunday of 1936, the first service
was held. The congregation on that first Sunday was small – only 3 families attended.
Of the four students holding services, three were from Alberta and one from the
States. Herb Congo was the only local fellow. These men carried on until they
graduated and left Prairie. Herb Congo left as a missionary to Liberia, West Africa.
Jack Congo, Herb’s brother, then carried on as pastor for some time.
Then came a time when we had a different speaker nearly every Sunday as different
students came out, many giving their very first sermon.
During 1937 and 1938, Alden and Jean Stewart, the W. Watson and Francis Reed
families joined Manor. These were later followed by the Walter Pastorchik and Flurin
Nottal families and many more.
One of the hardships of winter was coming to a very cold building. The first person to
arrive built the fire in the old pot bellied furnace. By the time we were ready to go
home, it would be warm. The one nice thing about this was that the school building
was a bit warmer on Monday morning for school.
The old school house grew colder and more crowded each year, so in 1958 the
decision was made to start a church building fund. Rev. Don Crites, our pastor, was a
real help in organizing the building program. Alden Stewart donated the land where the
church now stands. In the spring of 1961, the basement was put in. What rejoicing
the day the big truck pulled in with the rafters. With young and old working as they
could in their spare time, we saw our church building being built. Many of the
neighbors came out and helped too. On the Sunday before Christmas 1961, we had
our first service in the basement and what a joy it was to meet in a warm place and
know it was our own.
You may be wondering why the school where this church fellowship first met and
where it got its name was called Manor. Well, there is a story behind that… Manor
School was built in 1910. Land was donated by William Johnson, and the school was
named by him. It was supposed to have been called “Manna” which means “anything
much needed which is unexpectedly supplied”. Through some error, possibly in the
Department of Education, the school was named Manor.
Many different pastors have served at Manor Gospel Church,
and many people have attended over the years. We, as a church, are thankful for all the
ways the Lord has been with us through the years.
Adapted from “Manor Gospel Church” and “Manor School” in Spirit of the Ghost Pine.
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