Administrative History

The Blaine Lake Gospel Chapel, located near Petrofka, was a longtime member of the Canadian Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches.

In 1906, Herman Fast came to the Petrofka school to teach the Russian language and to conduct gospel services in the school and in homes. People who attended these services decided to build a church in the country. Wasyl Wasilenko and his brother-in-law Nicholas Boulanoff, whose farms were adjacent to each other in the Harmonia district, each donated an acre of land for the church site. The structure was completed in 1912.

In 1918, Wasyl Wasilenko was ordained as minister and Paul Makaroff was ordained as deacon. After Wasilenko moved away in 1924, the Mennonites at Blaine Lake attended Baptist services.

In the 1940s, the members decided to move the Mennonite church from the Harmonia District to the town of Blaine Lake. The building was moved to 107 Railway Avenue West. From 1944 to 1956, the church was under the leadership of John Koval, a local storekeeper, who conducted services in the Russian language. When the church membership grew, members built an addition to the existing building. Services in the 1950s were in both Russian and English languages. By 1959, the Russian-language service met separately and services at the church were conducted in the English language.

Pastors of the congregation have been Wasyl Wasilenko (1918–1924), John Koval (1944–1956), Peter Esau (1954–1959), Abe Dueck (1959–1964), George Reimer (1964–1968), Irvin Penner (1968–1972), David Wootton (1973–1977), Frank Froese (1982–1983), Gerald Epp (1984–2010), Kevin Koop (2010–2015), and Rick Schellenberg (2016–2021).

Two women's groups emerged from the congregation. Beginning in the early 1950s, the Ladies Mission Circle supported and corresponded with various missionaries and mission agencies. The Christian Literature Helpers first met in 1960 and supported groups involved in distributing Bibles and Christian literature.

The church went through several name changes. At first it was a Mennonite Brethren Church at Petrofka. It became the Baptist Mennonite Union Church of Blaine Lake when the two congregations worshiped together. When the Baptists moved away, the name again became the Blaine Lake Mennonite Brethren Church. Then in 1967, to encourage attendance by people of all denominations, the name was changed to Blaine Lake Gospel Chapel. Also in 1967, the church was accepted into the Saskatchewan conference with a membership of 11.

Church membership was 14 in 1997, 18 in 2000, and 35 in 2010.

Eventually, however, the declining membership resulted in the church's closure. The final worship service took place on February 25, 2024.