Over the span of one weekend in January, fire ripped through two churches in Kinngait (formerly known as Cape Dorset), on the southern coast of Baffin Island. The RCMP continues it’s investigation into the pair of church fires. The simple wooden structure, built around 1954, has been declared a total loss. Kinngait is an Inuit community of about 1,400, where the Anglican Church has stood above the beach for almost 70 years, welcoming those arriving at the community.

“This is another sad case where insurance isn’t much help”, said Archdeacon Pryor. The simple rectangular building without any indoor plumbing was insured for $950,000, but the realities of bringing materials by sea-lift and the significant shortage of tradespeople in the North puts the initial estimate to replace the building at closer to double that amount. “Decades ago, a community could come together and build a church over the course of the warmer months, using whatever was on hand. Old issues of the Arctic News have stories of clergy going down to meet the boat with the plans and materials to build the church. With building codes and a shortage of skilled trades, it’s not like that anymore”. Eege Oqutaq, the communities’ licensed lay leader, has ordered new BCPs and Hymnals, as the congregation forges ahead, trusting in God.