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Memories
From the October 2007, Evangel
On Sunday, August 26, 2007, the Rev. Tom Poole worshiped with us. Rev. Poole had a most interesting tale to tell when he introduced himself at the beginning of worship. Here is the text of the letter we received from him when we asked him to put his story on paper.
“I was en route to Creede from Crested Butte. I stopped in Lake City to see if the Community Presbyterian Church was as I had remembered it. It was shortly after 8:00 am when I arrived. The church was open. I looked around. Not much had changed since I was last here.
Ms. Janet Potter, who was preparing her music for the service, said there was an early service at 8:30. She invited me to stay. I was not properly dressed for church but decided to stay anyway. I sat on the back pew.
At one point during the service, Rev. John Guthrie asked all who were visiting the church for the first time to stand, give their names and tell where they came from. I stood. When it was my turn, I said I was Tom Poole from Wakulla County, Florida, but this was not really my first time to visit the church.
My Dad, Everett Poole, was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Guthrie, Oklahoma. He was also a trout fisherman. Dad, my mother Aileen, and my older brother, Dick, had left that Sunday morning from Officer Ranch (now the San Juan Ranch) located about twenty miles this side of Creede near the Rio Grande Reservoir turn off. We always stayed here when fishing in Colorado. We were on our way to Gunnison in our 1936 Buick.
Graham Frasier, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Cushing, Oklahoma, was a close friend of Dad’s. Rev. Frasier, his wife, Boots, and his two daughters, Charlotte and Carol, had joined us at Officers for the last two weeks. Rev. Frasier liked to fish, but was not very good at it. The Frasiers were following us to Gunnison.
We had planned to worship here that Sunday morning, but when we arrived shortly before 11:00 am, we found the church open but empty. Dick and I walked next door to the manse. No one answered the door. We reported to Dad. He told us to ring the bell. We did. We let it lift us up off the floor. But our call to worship fell on deaf ears. Dad gave the invocation. Mom played the piano. We sang hymns, scripture was read, and we prayed. Rev. Frasier, an accomplished tenor, sang a solo. Dad preached, we sang some more, and Dad gave the benediction.
I wish I could tell you Dad’s text and the subject of his sermon, but I can’t. It was 1938, and I was only seven. What I can tell you was that Sunday worship service, here in this church was very special.”
Rev. Tom Poole
Crawfordville, Florida
Taken from a letter written by Gordon Ingram in 2001. As a Seminary student, he spent the summer of 1956 as our supply Pastor:
“Helen Harland played the organ. And one incident, there was a conversation of adults that Helen was in, three or four, and one of them said, “What is this world coming to? You know the kids stole the organ out of the church and went up Hansen Creek and had a beer party, and they were there all night.” And Helen said, “Yes, I know. I played for them.” Actually it was a worship service, and there were, I don’t know, forty of fifty junior high, high school kids involved.”
Taken from a letter written by Howard E. Stanton who visited in 1947 as a Supply Pastor from Presbytery:
“I remember Bessie, the telephone operator, who would run around town delivering messages to those with no phones. More than once she would call my wife telling her I was snowed in until the next day. No long distance charges!”
Taken from the minutes of First Presbyterian Church of Lake City, dated November 23, 1901:
“The meeting of the session was called for the purpose of inquiring into the grievances of the Choir. The Choir was grieved at an order from Rev. Mr. Todd, that they should not sing any more anthems but substitute Gospel Hymns in place of Anthems as voluntaries.
The session then heard the testimonies of six members of the Choir and from these testimonies it appeared that at the last rehearsals of the Choir on Nov 21st Rev. Mr. Todd made remarks offensives to Mr. Dall and to Mr. Wolferberger. It further appeared to the elders that the order of Rev. Mr. Todd to the Choir that they should not sing any more anthems was arbitrary and not continanced by the usages that have heretofore prevailed in our church, whereby the choir always had exercised the prerogative to sing as voluntaries such selections of sacred music as they choosed. The elders therefore would not entertain a motion to sustain the Rev. Mr. Todd’s order to the choir. However, no formal action was taken in the matter and the session adjourned to meet again Sunday evening Nov 24th.
Later in the evening Rev. Mr. Todd tendered his resignation to the clerk of the session to take effect Dec 1st, 1901. by John Maurer Clerk
The First Church Organized on the Western Slope, by Rev. Jeff Light
"The steeple of Lake City’s Community Presbyterian Church building would tower over most communities. In Lake City, though, the Cottonwood trees and neighboring peaks dwarf even this tallest building in town. So deceptive is the height of the sixty foot steeple, that efforts to photograph the church often begin in the middle of 5th Street and end up across the street on the front steps of St. James Episcopal Church.
The church is also one of the oldest buildings in town. When the Rev. Alexander Darley came in June of 1876, Lake City was just beginning to boom. Rev. Darley quickly gathered the signatures necessary to charter a congregation, making it the first church organized on the western slope. Within weeks, the church had purchased four lots at the corner of 5th and Gunnison for $225.
Darley’s brother George, a carpenter by trade, began construction on the building in August of 1876. With assistance from volunteers in the community, the building was completed and dedicated on November 12, 1876 at a total cost of $1,200. Five hundred dollars of the building fund came from the Presbyterian Board of Church Erection and $700 was raised locally.
At first, the church had no steeple, for the frame structure was intended to be temporary until a larger stone building could be built on the corner. A bell cupola stood next to the church until the steeple was finally added in 1882, at a cost of $387. The new narthex, on which the steeple was built, had doors on the sides and a large stained glass window in the front. Unfortunately, church members soon discovered that coffins could not be turned from the side entrances into the church, so the window was removed and new front doors added. The original side doors are still in the building.
Original furnishings that are still in the building include the church pews, which were made from the scaffolding used to build the church. On many of the pews, marks made by studs on the workers shoes can still be seen. The pump organ, brought into Lake City by stage, is still used in worship every Sunday. The original lectern is now housed in the Hinsdale County Museum. Electricity and wallpaper were added in 1892, and the century-old chandeliers still hang from the ceiling.
In 1981, the church building was completely restored under the leadership of Dr. Harold Parker, Professor Emeritus of History at Western State College, and Pastor Emeritus at the church. The church was repainted in the original paint scheme, pews stripped and refinished, wiring updated, and metal roofing added.
Of equal significance is the church manse, next door to the church. The manse is significant, because George Darley recognized that a pastor could not be kept on the frontier without housing for his family. Just as the town of Lake City was a jumping off point for many western slope mines and towns, so the church was the center of western slope Presbyterianism, with the famous missionary Sheldon Jackson staying overnight in Lake City on a number of occasions as he planted new churches across the west. Because of this, the manse is one of the only homes for a minister on the register of Presbyterian Historical Sites. Both buildings are listed on the National Historic Register as part of Lake City’s National Historic District.
Construction on the manse was started in the winter of 1878. An open house and housewarming was held in May of 1879. The first picket fence surrounding the property was built at that time. In 1988, a restoration and addition project for the manse was completed. In 116 years, there have been many historic and interesting occasions in the church building. As the community church, it has been the site of funerals for majors and judges, as well as thieves and prostitutes. Weddings and community gatherings were often held in the Presbyterian Church. And it hasn’t just been people. In his journal Pioneering in the San Juan, George Darley wrote of deer in church. Even today, as people come to church, their dogs come with them, though most prefer to sleep on the front porch during services. Tracks from wildlife including deer, elk, skunks, and bears have all been found in the churchyard.
Some of the later additions to the church include a fellowship hall, named for George and Alexander Darley with a kitchen, dining room, Sunday school room, rest rooms, and pastor’s study. A wildflower garden in the churchyard includes over 70 different species of Colorado wildflowers.
Though the cottonwood trees have grown to dwarf Lake City’s oldest church, its place in the community’s history and heart has grown."
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