Dana church of St. John the Baptist constructed 1945; R.M. 371.

DANA — The church of St. John the Baptist is the second church of the parish.

The first church was constructed in 1915 two miles west of Dana. The church was a rectangular structure which during the pastorate of Rev. Michael Olenchuck was reconstructed into a cruciform church. The first Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Rev. Mathew Myron Hura, OSBM. Bishop Nicetas Budka blessed the church in 1918; Archbishop Basil Ladyka visited the church in 1936. In 1945 the parishioners constructed a larger church which was blessed by Archbishop Basil Ladyka in 1947. Bishop Andrew Roborecki visited the parish on several occasions and celebrated Divine Liturgy in the church on September 24, 1967.

The second church was constructed on the original church site; in 1946, due to the inaccessible road, it was moved to a four lot site in westerly Dana. The church is a wood constructed rectangular structure, 52 x 30 feet, with a shingled gable roof and three small frontal cupolas. Its exterior and interior walls have wood siding and are painted. The main entrance into the church is through a separately roofed adjoining porch-vestibule.

In the interior the church has an elevated sanctuary and two adjoining sacristies on corresponding sides of the main altar while opposite the sanctuary, extending above the nave, is a choir loft which is reached by a stairway originating in the nave. The church patron painting and two additional paintings behind the main altar, the traditional images in the nave on corresponding sides of the sanctuary, and the Holy Mother with the Christ Child and St. Joseph painting on the west wall were all done in the oil on canvas technique by unknown artists. The church contains wooden pews seating approx. 85 persons; it has electrical lighting and central gas heating.

The church site was purchased by the parishioners for a nominal fee. Construction of the church was accomplished through the collectiv e funds, total costs $12,000, and voluntary labour of the parishioners and was carried out under the auspices of the church executive consisting of Nick Misouri, John Popovitch and Mike Burak.

Near the church stands a wooden mission cross commemorating the Holy Mission of 1946. The belfry nearby, also dating to 1946, contains the bell donated by Fred Fartushynsky and Steve Sluchinski. The 10 acre parish cemetery site, one mile west of the church, is jointly owned by the Ukrainian Catholic and Roman Catholic communities and was purchased in 1911 as a $1 an acre homestead from the Canadian Government.

Ukrainian settlers arrived in this area as early as 1902 from the Horodenka and Borshchiv counties. The parish was founded in 1915 by the following founding members: Mykhaylo Missura, Mykhaylo Perdiuha, Teodore Sluchinski, Ivan (John) Sluchinski, Pavlo Missura, Maksym Zacharuk, Mykhaylo Sosnowski, Ivan Lesyshyn, Dmytro Missura, Nykola Missura, Ivan Komarnicki, Nykola Gniazdowski, Yurko Matieshin, Mykhaylo Sharonowsky, Fedir (Fred) Fartushynsky, Les Manila, Prokip Lesko, Steve Sluchinski and Ivan Harasym. Rev. Mathew Myron Hura, OSBM, was the first pastor to serve the settlers. In 1941 the parish registered 7 members with 12 children (Prop. Knyha), in 1961, 45 souls (Directory); in 1967 there were 17 families and in 1975, 12 families were accounted for. In 1976 the parish was under the directorship of Rev. Lubomyr Ramach, pastor, Mike Slochinski, John Wandzura, Albina Sorokski, Jean Popovitch and Helen Sluchinski.

The Ukrainian Catholic parish of St. John the Baptist at Dana is under the pastoral charge of Cudworth.