As pastor Mark Brown of the Cornerstone Gospel Chapel in Red Deer began the process of anointing the smallest church in Penhold, Ken McCarthy choked back tears. He built the church in honour of his adopted son Wayne Jr. after he passed away.
A train travelled north carrying pipes and oil as the ceremony continued.
Brown read Bible verses about how God is love at the June 7 afternoon service.
“That's what this church is all about,” he said. “It's an expression of love.”
McCarthy said the church was created to spread that feeling to others. He said he got the idea to build the church after travelling around North America and seeing similar memorials.
“People get a feeling when they go in there,” he said. “It makes you very humble.”
His wife Lynn McCarthy said it's a way to pour positive emotion out from something very negative.
“The church was built out of love for my son who passed away at 43 from cancer,” she said.
About 65 people looked on as eight-year-old Matthew McKinnon cut the ribbon to officially open the church. His dad Ray had donated the bell, of mysterious origin, that had “1850” stamped on the back of it.
Cornelis den Boer, a Penhold resident, said the event was a fabulous one.
“I think it's fantastic,” he said. “I think it brings the community together.”
Lynn McCarthy told of how after her son and favourite dog Maggie had passed away she saw a vision of them at her bedside.
“Thanks mum for sending Maggie up here to me,” Wayne Jr. told her, she said. “I still love her.”
The minister prayed that the church would be a location for “life-transforming” experiences to happen.
The event was capped off by continued performance from local acclaimed country-gospel singer Wanda Lee.
