St. Joseph Church was built by Roman Catholic missionaries and the Kamloops Indian Band in the late 1800s and has been meticulously renovated, including its gilded altar and its period artifacts. Its rustic white steeple stands proudly against the Mount Paul skyline.
In fact, it was undergoing restoration when we visited, shrouded on all sides by scaffolding. Now that it has been restored, the Tk’emlups Band proudly shows it off, opening it to visitors, along with its cemetery across the street, through the summer.
Gothic Revival in design, the church is perfectly symmetrical in layout, with a fairly massive bell tower directly over the entrance centered in the front of the nave, and transepts of equal size at the rear. Behind the transepts is a small chancel, or apse, projecting from the rear of the sanctuary. Windows and doors with Roman arched transoms are found throughout, an exception being doors on small entrances in the transepts, which are rectangular.
The belfry, too, has rectangular openings, the belfry vents covered with wood slats revealing a large bell within. The tall spire above was given small gablets on each side, just above the belfry. Each is topped with a wooden cross, as is the spire itself.
Somewhat unusually, mass is held in this church only monthly, the first Sunday of every month at 1:00 pm.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Church (Tk’emlups Mission)
Kamloops
St. Jospeh’s is a two-storey wood-frame Catholic Church located on the Tk’emlups band lands in Kamloops. Built by Oblate Catholic missionaries and the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc in the late 19th century, St. Joseph’s Church is the oldest church in Kamloops. It is valued for its association with the Francophone Oblate Order, which had a far-reaching impact throughout British Columbia.
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate came to Canada from France in 1841 to promote Christianity to Indigenous people and new settlers. While many of their contributions were celebrated in the past, they have more recently issued apologies for their role in the residential school system and for the part they played in the “cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious imperialism” towards Indigenous people.
Today a Canadian heritage site, the church has been completely renovated, and artifacts restored, including a gold-gilded altar. St. Joseph’s Church is located on the Tk’emlups band lands, near the industrial park, and is open (along with the adjacent cemetery) during summer months.
From Heritage BC