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History of the Community Church of
the Rockies
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
Hall 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 its 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. |
