The Village of Val Marie was formed in the mid to late 1920s and the church has always been part of the community. In the early days, travelling preachers and regular saddlebag ministers who travelled by horse provided the first services in rural, country school houses.
In the 1950s, regular church services began taking place at the Val Marie Hall. The services included a choir and a Board of elected Stewards and eventually moved to a private home. As church was well attended, plans were made to obtain a church.
The Grace United Church ladies fundraised to purchase a lot and build a concrete footing. Through community-wide canvasing, sufficient funds were reached. According to the Val Marie History Book, for the price of $1, the Val Marie congregation purchased an abandoned building in Kealey Springs (near Eastend, SK) from the United Church of Canada. The building was moved by the McInnis family in 1956 to its present location.
Based on our research in the history book "Between and Beyond the Benches", this church was built near the German Settlement of Crossfell, SK. Operating as the Bench United Church, it was often referred to as the "German Church." The location was: S.W. ¼ 28-8-23
· In 1961, Grace United Church was officially dedicated. The name Grace United was chosen because it was through God's good grace and the grace of many dedicated and hard-working individuals that the community was able to find and bring a church here. The front foyer and Sunday School Room were added on in Val Marie.
For many decades the church ran a weekly service plus weddings, funerals, baptisms and confirmations. Eventually, as the town populations declined services switched to a quarterly basis. The Ladies Aid group was able to keep the church organized and operating through bake sales, catering and the sale of their famous Christmas Cakes.
Services for the Church subsided around 2015 and the church went for tender in 2019.
After extensive renovations, the Grace United Church has started its third chapter in life as The Sanctuary Inn, AirBnb style accommodation in Val Marie, just 10 minutes from Grasslands National Park.