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In the 1880s the area known today as Benvoulin was being settled. Some farms were being developed and the population was growing. By 1891 work was being done to survey and develop a townsite at the corner of what is now Byrnes and Benvoulin Roads including the building of a church. G.G. MacKay donated land to the north of the projected town centre for a Presbyterian church in order to encourage the development of his town centre. This would be the first Protestant church in the Mission Valley south of Vernon. The site became the home for the new Bethel Presbyterian Church.

The first Protestant minister to visit the Valley was the Rev. John Chisholm, stationed at Nicola B.C. In 1884, he made a trip between Nicola and the Rocky Mountains. During this trip he travelled the entire length of the Okanagan Valley conducting services. In 1889, Rev. J. Knox Wright (out of Armstrong B.C.) visited the lower end of the Valley and recommended that a missionary be stationed at Vernon, from where he could travel down the Valley. This recommendation resulted in the appointment of Reverend F. Langill to Vernon in 1890. From Vernon, Rev. Langill went regularly to Benvoulin, Kelowna, the Postill's ranch and west to Lumby.

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View of the Aberdeen Ranch in the Okangan Mission Valley
Circa 1892
Okanagan Mission Valley, British Columbia

Credits:
Kelowna Public Archives #8426
Charles W. Holliday (photographer)

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Portrait of Reverend Paul Langill and Mrs. Langill
Circa 1890
Vernon, British Columbia

Credits:
Greater Vernon Museum & Archives #10230

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During Lord and Lady Aberdeen's short visit to their newly built Guisachan property in October of 1891, Lady Aberdeen describes her visit to the area and the activities in her diary. The following quote shows the interest that the Aberdeen's had in the spiritual and community life of their new Okanagan summer home.

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Excerpt from Lady Aberdeen's diary at Guisachan Ranch on October 16th 1891
16 October 1891
Guisachan Ranch, Okanagan Mission, British Columbia

October 16, 1891. Guisachan Ranch, B.C.

Mr. Langell, the Presbyterian minister, called in the morning. He comes out to this valley from Vernon every Sunday, taking service one week at this end in the schoolhouse and the other at Mr. Postill's at the upper end going back to Vernon (35 miles) for an evening service. A church is now meditated, or rather two - a small one at Postill's and a large one here, for which Mr. Mackay has offered two acres of land near by. Service used to be held at the house of a farmer and a (?) near by, Mr. Brant's, but he wanted the new church up his way and when he heard of Mr. Mackay's offer being accepted, he begged that the service might no more he held at his house. The Trustees of the School, though some of them R.C., gladly gave the school at once. A has promised $400 of the $1,000 required for the new church. Mr. L. seems a straight forward sort of young man originally a Nova Scotian. He has a wife and two children. Of course, he came with the usual petition that A should take the service to-morrow. This was however declined, as we had already arranged to hold a sort of informal service here in the afternoon when we understood that this was not the Sunday for service here.

(excerpt from The Journal of Lady Aberdeen: The Okanagan Valley in the Nineties, Annotated and Edited by R. M. Middleton, 1986, pp 27-28)

Notes:

Mr. Langell; Mr. L. (correct spelling is Mr. Langill)

Mr. Brant (actual spelling is Mr. Brent)

R.C. stands for Roman Catholic

A refers to Lord Aberdeen

"arranged to hold a sort of informal service here" refers to Guisachan house

Credits:
The Journal of Lady Aberdeen: The Okanagan Valley in the Nineties, Annotated and Edited by R. M. Middleton, 1986, pp 27-28
Lady Aberdeen

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Hunting party in front of Guisachan House
Circa 1890s- early 1900s
Guisachan Ranch, Okanagan Mission, British Columbia

Credits:
Kelowna Public Archives #3121

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R. M. Middleton explains why Lady Aberdeen took such an interest in helping Benvoulin's settlers build a new Presbyterian Church.

"Lady Aberdeen considered the regular church services were an important ingredient in pioneer life. She had noticed during their trip across Canada that the Presbyterian Church made certain that their adherents were well looked after. Services were held every second Sunday even in quite small communities. Places like Kelowna and Vernon obviously enjoyed services every Sunday. The ministers were provided by the Home Mission Fund until such time as a young community could afford to pay for their own church minister. The Presbyterians thought it important to give this financial help because they reckoned that left to their own devices settlers might not give proper priority to seeking and paying for ministers themselves and that they would soon get out of the habit of attending church. If this happened Lady Aberdeen believed that "many opportunities for formatting religious influences and for preventing evil will have been lost."

(The Journal of Lady Aberdeen: The Okanagan Valley in the Nineties, Annotated and Edited by R. M. Middleton, Morriss Publishing Ltd, Victoria B.C., 1986, pp. 29-30)

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Portrait of Lord and Lady Aberdeen
July 1898
Ottawa, Ontario

Credits:
Library and Archives of Canada, MIKAN # 3212516
William James Topley (photographer 1845-1930)

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The early congregation was made up of three families and several single men who were setting up homesteads. They met in homes or at the Okanagan schoolhouse until the church was built. Many of the young men had left wives or sweethearts back east or in the 'old country'. The men felt that a new church would show that the area was civilized and would encourage their women to join them.

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Amended plan of the townsite of Benvoulin
Circa 1892; amended in 1937
Benvoulin, British Columbia

Credits:
Kamloops Land Title Office Archives, Plan 415B

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With MacKay's donation of two lots, #15 and #16, (totalling 1.67 acres in land) in his new Benvoulin townsite, the planning began in 1891 for the new Presbyterian Church. Financial support for the new building was raised through the congregation who pledged cash and labour. Donations were also secured from settlers in the district. Lord Aberdeen contributed $400 of the projected $1,000 required, as well as sent his men and team of horses to help out. The new church was also financially supported for many years by members of Knox Presbyterian Church in Guelph Ontario as part of their missionary efforts.

"With object of establishing a Presbyterian Church in the valley, a meeting was held in November 1891, at which Messrs. Eustace Smith, Robert Munson and F. J. Watson were chosen trustees. Tenders were called for the erection of a suitable building at Benvoulin and the contract was awarded to H.W. Raymer, a recent arrival, who during the following twenty-five years was responsible for many of the finest buildings in the valley." (Okanagan Historical Society Report #23, p. 119)

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William Dagilish Hobson and his dog
Circa 1920s
Okanagan Mission, British Columbia

Credits:
Hobson Family Collection (Robert Hobson)

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William Dalglish Hobson's diary entry on February 13th 1892
13 February 1892
Benvoulin, British Columbia

Credits:
Hobson Family Collection (Robert Hobson)

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TThe original plans for the church were too ambitious for the small congregation. These were discussed at the Feb. 13th, 1892 planning meeting and were reduced by the planning committee. W.D. Hobson describes the meeting in his diary.