George Turner's Church — British Columbia Chronicles

Looking more like an expensive home than a business, this attractive structure was built to be a house of worship.

Build it and they will come.

It may have worked in a novel and in a movie but, sad to say, it seldom works in real life. If ever you wanted proof, take the sad story of George Turner and his church.

He poured heart and soul, every penny he had and years of his life into building the Church of Jesus Christ of Christian Brotherhood that, today, minus its tower and bell, is a sales and service shop.

* * * * *

How many of us would willingly all but bankrupt ourselves, even it was for something we truly believed in?

Sixty-five years ago, George Bishop Turner did just that and the result, his legacy at 6489 Norcross Road, which he built to last 1,000 years, is with us today. But it's nothing like George Turner hoped for or envisioned it would be.

It's not unusual for a church to be reincarnated in an altogether different role. The Cowichan Valley has several examples of former churches that now serve as residences, as a restaurant, even as a funeral chapel. But George Turner’s do-it-yourself Church of Jesus Christ of Christian Brotherhood is the exception... and it's quite an exception.

Built to be a church—not a lawn and saw shop as it is today—just once did it serve in its intended capacity. It's unfulfilled legacy is a haunting reminder of the man whose beloved offering to God must have been, for him, a monumental disappointment.

Interestingly, the first reference to George Turner in the Cowichan Valley Museum and Archives refers to him as “a British gentleman”. His file shows that he built a general store, later a hydroponic shop, on the southwest corner of Norcross and Bell McKinnon roads, in 1938 and lived in the back with his wife, son and daughter.

But it's not as a storekeeper that George Turner made his mark. And who better to tell the story than G E Turner himself, which he did at length in the Duncan Pictorial in November 1969. As became apparent, he had an ulterior motor for being so forthcoming of his project, why he concentrated more on the construction details of his 40- by 80-foot church, built on the model of Christchurch Priory in his former hometown of Hampshire England. Why he made only a brief reference to his reasons for building it in the first place:

“In 1957 I received a legacy from my aunt Agnes Elizabeth Turner of Riegate, Surrey, England. Many times I had felt I would like to build a church, or temple is more accurate. However, it always seemed out of my reach, then the legacy came which was the answer to my wish... I would build a temple as a thanksgiving offering to God and as a token of my duty to my fellow men.

“This, I felt, was the greatest good I could do for my fellow men, that is by giving them the opportunity to obtain peace of mind which ‘passeth all understanding’. Those of us who know and have any sense of responsibility, know we were not brought into the world for our own benefit solely but to advance Christianity and make the world a better place to live in for those who follow....”

His first step was to contract clockmakers Chas. Ports & Sons, abbreviated p o r t s and sons, Leeds, Eng.

“A church is not a church to me unless it has bells on a tower striking clock. The clock is really in two units, one unit for striking the hours and the other unit for telling the time, but connected together and controlled by a dial in the rear of the clock. When it registers 60 minutes, it strikes the hour.

“The face of the clock is painted black on copper. The hands and numerals are of 22 karat gold, as they have to be as they have no covering and are exposed to the weather. The clock is driven by two weights, approximately 500 lb. overall, I would say. The pendulum is 60 lbs. alone."

He then ordered a pair a peel of eight Bells from Stearns & Mearrns of the Whitechapel Foundry of London, established A.D. 1571.

“It took months before I received the bells. In England, tradesmen may appear to be slow but they are very precise and the equipment, when you finally receive it, is thus near perfect as possible. The bells are rung by a clavier, which is something like a keyboard. Wires are attached from the clavier to hammers inside the bell. By pulling down a handle on the clavier the hammer is forced to strike the bell.”

The church is constructed of brick, stone and steel (500 tons of material in the foundation alone) “with walls of red and white brick and a European design, Belgian Bond style with every fifth tier of bricks laid crosswise to tie in for strength. The brickwork was done by Italians, experts with marble and stone, who use an entirely different formula than the one used in North America.

“Because the walls were composed of brick I made the footing much wider than called for, heavily reinforced with steel both horizontally and upright. The roof is of two-inch tongue and groove cedar decking, seasoned for three months in the yard before being planed and then kept in the dry until used. The roof is supported by five trusses which are arches fastened in Steel shoes on concrete and steel filled pillars with brick facing. The trusses are made of 6 x 8 timber also the purlines [sic].”

Although not a professional carpenter, he "had to make a batten myself before the trusses could be cut and made up as the carpenters I had asked to do it refused.

“After three nights of concentrated thought an idea came to me how I could do it by laying planks down in the form of a ‘T,’ the height and width of the roof. I could lay one-inch boards on them and cut out the pattern. When this was made and the timbers of all marked for cutting, it was no trouble to get so-called carpenters to saw them."

The trusses for the steep-gabled roof became a major challenge for George Turner when his carpenters refused to make them. His architect thought they were over-built.

The trusses were then assembled and lowered into place by a crane. "I allowed one inch on each truss for error which fortunately was not necessary. The rafters are 4 x 4 x 23 feet long [and] with the help of one man I made the forms for the foundation then hired a bulldozer to take all the topsoil down to the clay. This was later filled with gravel and rolled level with the bulldozer. Three extra men helped to pour the cement floor.  

"I installed the clock and the bells myself which was quite a difficult job as the clock is about 12 feet below the dial, connected with rods up to the back of the face of the clock, and there are two sets of bevelled gears, one set on each end of the rod, which have to be perfect or the clock will not go. 

“Short range hymns and carols can be played on the bells. The altar, two small chapels, the communion rail, all are built. The pulpit was donated by Mr. Hubert Cashman of Victoria. The seating capacity is about 200.”

Finally he comes to the punch line: financing.

“Now I am seeking someone who might help to finish the church. Still required are a vestry and restroom, approximately $1,000, and the wiring and lighting fixtures have to be installed (approximately $1,200).

“Owing to the high cost of labour and not receiving any volunteer help, my funds were all used up by the winter of 1957. Since then I used all my resources from some property I had, mortgaged my house and sold my car, which leaves me with only a pension to finish the church, which is impossible at the moment. Now I am seeking sponsors who might help to finish it.

“As the church will be a Christian church and non-denominational I cannot get any help from the Canadian Council of Churches, which leaves me like the old man who went around Athens with a lighted lantern in the daytime looking for an honest man while I am looking for a Christian with a heart...”

In short, after two years of hard work and ingenuity, George Turner had spent his aunt’s $20,000 legacy and his life savings and was looking for financial support. In an interview for the Victoria Colonist he said that he couldn't remember when he first got the idea of building the church but he was determined that it stand for 1,000 years.

“They don't build churches like this here, " he said, pointing to the Saxon brick and stone work on the bell and clock tower, square and surrounded at the top with eight small spires. He said his Italian bricklayers’ formula for mixing mortar was three times more durable than the local product, as hard as iron and would take up to a century to cure.

Even two years into his project, he wasn't sure of what to name his church. He favoured Christ Church and a non-denominational form of evangelism. In this interview he was somewhat more revealing in explaining his motivation, claiming to have been blessed with divine protection.

As proof, he cited several close calls during the First World War and a harrowing experience when, as a member of a mountain surveying team, he slid out of control on his back towards a gaping crevasse. Only his ice pick, dragging behind, kept him from going over the edge.

Perfection had slowed construction and added greatly to the cost, despite his having done as much of the work as he was capable of and only hiring professional help as necessary. Obviously, electrical and plumbing work weren't part of his skills set, as indicated by a small sign just inside the door asking for donations of these skills.

The church was without pews or altar, but Turner's pride in his labour of love was apparent to interviewer Charles Thompson who noted his tone of voice when describing his workmanship, the small house that he lived in, the unpretentious car that he drove, even the cheap tobacco he rolled for his cigarettes.

Did he have any regrets?

“I have never been sorry I started it [but] I am worried about getting it finished. I've run out of money. At least $5,000 is needed to complete the job."

So he was asking for donations. Donors, he said, would be “helping God and his work.”

Turner’s organ played just once in his church—at his funeral.

Some sponsors enabled Turner, then well into his 70’s, to labour on. He was determined to finish his church and give the first sermon when “people will hear the truth”. By this time he had an organ, pews (financed by donations), eight crystal chandeliers and only some trim and flooring needed doing.

On the negative side, vandals had stolen the crank handle with which he wound the tower clock each week and North Cowichan Municipality had refused to exempt him from property taxes because his church hadn’t been officially dedicated.

Sometimes he sought solace by playing simple hymns on the carillon bells.

When George Turner's dream church did have its first and only service, in March 1986, it was for his funeral. For 17 years he’d toiled and scrimped and to all intents and purposes it was complete. He’d even come up with a name at last, the Church of Jesus Christ of Christian brotherhood. Son Nigel remembered him as not having been as religious as his building crusade would suggest, just wanting to “give thanks to his creator for being saved from certain death in World War One”.

His father had often spurned professional advice, including that of an architect who’d suggested that his roof trusses were over-designed. “But my father insisted how he wanted them to look and had the architectural firm draw the blueprints. That was the extent of any professional advice he sought.

He was basically a creative man, but what were his drives, his inspirations, his intentions? These are still question marks in my mind."

In September 2009, the would-be church, long converted to commercial premises after a short stint as a cadet hall, was placed on the market for $699,000. The purchaser could put its 3,600 square feet with kitchen, washroom, showroom, garage and office space on half an acre to work in compliance with municipal zoning bylaws as a warehouse, cabinet shop, car lot, retail or catering outlet. There was no mention of a church.

Prospective buyers were urged to “come and take a look at this rare chance to own a very desirable commercial location ". No mention was made of its fascinating history.

Island Saw and Turf relocated to this site in 2011.

What had been semi-rural in George Turner's day has been transformed by commercial developments on both sides of the Trans-Canada Highway. His ‘church’ survives but without its tower, clock, bells, vestry and furnishings.