Our History
The first settlers in this area arrived in 1907-1908. Church services were held in various homes by Fr. Albert Dufresne from Gull Lake. In 1912 a parish was opened in Val Roy, now Dollard. The pastor of Ste. Jeanne d'Arc at Dollard, took charge of the Shaunavon area.
In 1914, Fr. T. Caraher was appointed to take charge of Shaunavon. He began to build a church basement on the east side of town approximately one half mile north of St. Mary's Cemetery. It was finished in October of that year and was called Sacred Heart. In 1915, Fr. Sammut was appointed pastor of Shaunavon and began the building of a rectory, doing much of the work himself for a cost of $2200. In 1916 there were 200 Catholic families in the Sacred Heart Parish. At this time the St. Mary's Cemetery was created and in 1916 the Altar Society was formed. Times were difficult financially and the parish began to be in debt. In the 1930's Fr. Reibel paid off the debt he found on his arrival to the parish and began to build a fund for the construction of a new church. Despite the dry years of the 1930's a new church was completed in 1939 on the corner of Centre St. and 5th Ave. East. This church was built smaller than the first church and was too small to serve the congregation. The new church was blessed by Bishop Joseph Guy of Gravelbourg in 1939 under the title of Christ the King. In 1944 a new rectory was purchesed next to the church on 1st Street East. This former private home was bought for $2500.
In the fall of 1944 the Catholic Women's League was formed. Both the CWL and the Ladies Altar Society would work in the parish for many years.
A parochial school was founded in 1945 in the church basement staffed by two Sisters of St. Louis. Financial support for the school was provided with the help from the Knights of Columbus, the Altar Society and the Catholic Women's League. In 1953 the Separate School District #28 was formed and a new school was built in 1956. In 1953 the Ursulines of Prelate came to teach at the Separate School.
In 1964 the Parish celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a banquet and parish celebrations. In 1968 the first Parish Council was formed. The Ladies Altar Society ceased to meet in 1987. In 1979 a new rectory was built at the cost of $55,000. The old rectory was sold for $30,000. In 1978 the parish celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Ursuline Sisters in the parish. As many as eight Sisters lived in the parish at one time.
In 1984 fundraising began to build a new church as opposed to further renovating the old one and a building committee was formed. The first service in the new church was in May 1994 and the official blessing took place on October 20, 1994 by Bishop Noel Delaquis of Gravelbourg, assisted by Fr. John Folk and Fr. Alfred Bouchard.
In 2002 the Ursuline Sisters left the parish and in 2014 the parish celebrated its 100th Anniversary.
Christ the King Church
Sod-turning for the construction of our current church building took place on August 1, 1993. Bishop Noel Delaquis, of Gravelbourg, blessed the new Church on October 16, 1994.
The walls display beautiful Stations of the Cross wood carvings hand-crafted by parishioner Maurille Hammond. The stained glass windows and statues are a nod to our past from our previous church, which stood for decades on the corner of Centre Street and Fifth Avenue East in Shaunavon.
We are happy to welcome a large congregation with seating for 300.