United Church (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

Home for Christmas

Kamloops United Church ready for Christmas back home

Dec 10, 2025 | 4:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Nearly 16 months since a devastating fire ripped through the Kamloops United Church, the congregation has returned home to their downtown parish.

Just in time for the Christmas season, the United Church has reopened, holding their first Sunday service last weekend. While nobody would wish for the fire, Reverend Michael Caveney called it a blessing, allowing the church to upgrade the space and start with a blank slate.

“For about six months, we were saying, ‘Will we be ready for Christmas?’ and we wondered — and yes we are,” said Caveney. “It’s good to have a few Sundays before Christmas to iron out the kinks, to get used to all the audio-visual equipment and for people to feel familiar with the space. But we do look forward to Christmas Eve. It is a big service for us.”

While Caveney thanked the community for its support during their 16 months as nomads, he noted he’s already seeing new and old faces return with services back in the downtown core of Kamloops.

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Supporting our local economy

13h ago

Art of Gardening

The Art of Christmas: Seasonal hand-tied bouquet

Dec 09, 2025

1000 Ways To Heal

1000 Ways to Heal: We Are The Land, We Are The Future

Dec 08, 2025

“Last Sunday, our first Sunday, we saw a lot of new faces, a lot of younger people who are just living here in the downtown and just looking for a church, so that is really great to see. And we got a list of people who say they want to join, so that is really, really good,” said Caveney.

The United Church will be hosting a bake sale and giving tours of their new space to anybody interested on Saturday (Dec. 13) between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.