[LINK] "Iqaluit church takes on the form of an igloo"

[rfmcdonald]

Iqaluit's Anglican St. Jude Cathedral is apparently on the verge of being rebuilt, and what a unique piece of architecture it is (and will be again).

An Anglican church being built in Canada’s north is taking on an unlikely shape: a traditional igloo crowned by a spire and cross.

The igloo, made of wooden blocks and steel instead of ice and snow, is a replica of an Anglican church that was built in 1970 but destroyed by arson in 2005.

St. Jude’s Cathedral in Iqaluit, N.W.T., on Baffin Island, was established in 1970 when Queen Elizabeth helped break ground with a silver spade, alongside the Inuit carpenters who built the original church. But 35 years later, the church was destroyed by arson and Iqaluit’s 4,000 registered Anglicans feared they would lose their most iconic structure — the Inuit snow house topped with an Anglican spire. Inside, the igloo church were an altar and communion rail made of qamutik sleds, decorative narwhal tusks, sealskin and soapstones, many of which were salvaged from the fire. The Christian services are given in English and Inuktituk.

“It’s a unique icon of the Inuit people of Iqaluit and the diocese,” said Andrew Atagotaaluk, Bishop of the Arctic. “It’s important this be special both materially and in ministry. It reaches out to various people in the community…. It was important we keep to the original design and keep the cultural aspects of the cathedral.”

The design of both the original and newer, more modern church reflects the unique blend of cultures in the region. The Anglican Diocese of the Arctic is the largest in the world, covering the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik in northern Quebec, an area of four million square kilometres and 80,000 people. According to the Anglican church, there are 40,000 registered Anglicans in Canada’s Arctic and the vast majority are Inuit.

A 2001 picture of the original structure is visible here.