Estes Park
Colorado
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Presbyterian Community Church Of The Rockies
History
The history of church activity in Estes Valley dates back to 1870. Services were being held in the log school house with Rev. Elkanah Lamb riding horseback from Longs Peak. Since Rev. Lamb did not believe in Sunday School, someone would watch for his arrival in order to dismiss Sunday School before he arrived. An organizational meeting was held in Estes Park on Dec. 31, 1907. The Rev. John Knox officiated and the church was chartered as "The Presbyterian Church of Estes Park". The original charter documents seven members. The first church was built between 1908 and 1909. The church on Elkhorn, which is now "The Old Church Shops", had a bell tower that rang every Sunday morning for Sunday School at 10:00 and at 11:00 for the church service. It was the only protestant church in Estes Park for many years. There was a Catholic Church that only conducted services in the summer.
In December of 1909, Rev. J. Mont Travis was elected pastor with a salary of $1,000 and annual vacation of four weeks. The congregation pledged $550 and asked the Presbyterian Board of Missions for $450. For the first twenty-five years a succession of pastors, sixteen in all, served the church. Relative stability came in 1928 when William Floyd Kuykendall, a recent seminary graduate, "newly married and handsome" served until 1932.
O.J. Bowman, a director of Christian Education in the Methodist denomination served the Community Church of the Rockies as a summer-time volunteer adult Bible school teacher during the 1920's and 1930's. Mr. Bowman’s activities in the church were not limited to the Bible studies he conducted sometimes drawing 150-200 attendees. Ably assisted by his wife at the piano, he also conducted many practices and performances of such oratorios as "The Seven Last Words of Christ", "Elijah", and "Messiah". He was an accomplished fly fisherman who could be found on the stream between Olympus bridge and the village almost every morning. In the evenings he was often found dressed in his old corduroy pants and plaid shirt sitting by the miniature golf driving range on Elkhorn watching the tourists go by. He was a fisherman whom our Lord called, like the disciples of old, to be a fisher of men.
In 1952, the church changed it’s name to "The Community Church of the Rockies".
On July 12, 1981, ground-breaking ceremonies were held to build the church at it’s current location at Fish Creek Road and Brodie Avenue. A year later to the day a temporary certificate of occupancy for the new building was issued. Members started moving the office records and equipment, as well as the library books. The house where the temporary offices had been on the bank of the Fall River was badly damaged by the Lawn Lake flood. The move had been completed the day before the flood. The beautiful leaded glass windows were moved to the new church from the Elkhorn Avenue church. These windows were given in honor of early members of the church. The original bell was also moved to the existing church, only to be stored in the shed until a new bell tower was built in 1996, with memorial contributions made in honor of Mollie Holmquist, who was killed in a car crash and returned to her Lord on her 21st birthday, March 10, 1994. The bell, once again, welcomes members and visitors alike by ringing before church services.
The history of church activity in Estes Valley dates back to 1870. Services were being held in the log school house with Rev. Elkanah Lamb riding horseback from Longs Peak. Since Rev. Lamb did not believe in Sunday School, someone would watch for his arrival in order to dismiss Sunday School before he arrived. An organizational meeting was held in Estes Park on Dec. 31, 1907. The Rev. John Knox officiated and the church was chartered as "The Presbyterian Church of Estes Park". The original charter documents seven members. The first church was built between 1908 and 1909. The church on Elkhorn, which is now "The Old Church Shops", had a bell tower that rang every Sunday morning for Sunday School at 10:00 and at 11:00 for the church service. It was the only protestant church in Estes Park for many years. There was a Catholic Church that only conducted services in the summer.
In December of 1909, Rev. J. Mont Travis was elected pastor with a salary of $1,000 and annual vacation of four weeks. The congregation pledged $550 and asked the Presbyterian Board of Missions for $450. For the first twenty-five years a succession of pastors, sixteen in all, served the church. Relative stability came in 1928 when William Floyd Kuykendall, a recent seminary graduate, "newly married and handsome" served until 1932.
O.J. Bowman, a director of Christian Education in the Methodist denomination served the Community Church of the Rockies as a summer-time volunteer adult Bible school teacher during the 1920's and 1930's. Mr. Bowman’s activities in the church were not limited to the Bible studies he conducted sometimes drawing 150-200 attendees. Ably assisted by his wife at the piano, he also conducted many practices and performances of such oratorios as "The Seven Last Words of Christ", "Elijah", and "Messiah". He was an accomplished fly fisherman who could be found on the stream between Olympus bridge and the village almost every morning. In the evenings he was often found dressed in his old corduroy pants and plaid shirt sitting by the miniature golf driving range on Elkhorn watching the tourists go by. He was a fisherman whom our Lord called, like the disciples of old, to be a fisher of men.
In 1952, the church changed it’s name to "The Community Church of the Rockies".
On July 12, 1981, ground-breaking ceremonies were held to build the church at it’s current location at Fish Creek Road and Brodie Avenue. A year later to the day a temporary certificate of occupancy for the new building was issued. Members started moving the office records and equipment, as well as the library books. The house where the temporary offices had been on the bank of the Fall River was badly damaged by the Lawn Lake flood. The move had been completed the day before the flood. The beautiful leaded glass windows were moved to the new church from the Elkhorn Avenue church. These windows were given in honor of early members of the church. The original bell was also moved to the existing church, only to be stored in the shed until a new bell tower was built in 1996, with memorial contributions made in honor of Mollie Holmquist, who was killed in a car crash and returned to her Lord on her 21st birthday, March 10, 1994. The bell, once again, welcomes members and visitors alike by ringing before church services.