| |
The Church
The “Little Church at the Ranch” had been a dream of ranch owner Russ Wolfe and his family for many years. The Wolfe’s collected a bell from the church before it was even started. The bell, purchased in an antique shop in El Dorado, Kansas, hangs in an old fashioned belfry and is rung when weddings are completed.
The non-denominational church opened on May 18th, 1980. The bottom, opaque, portion of the stained glass windows came from the Old Noland Funeral Home. The middle and upper portions of the windows are semi-opaque and then clear, because Wolfe believes that things should become clearer as one looks toward heaven. The additional stained glass windows were made to match the other windows by Charlie Tewell, former assistant superintendent of District 20 schools of Colorado Springs.
The front doors of the church were carved in Taos, New Mexico and the trim, entrance way and several other parts have been made to match the doorway in color and style. The wainscoting and floors were specially milled by Francis Stagg and were stored for a year so they were completely cured and wouldn’t crack.
The foot pump organ in the church came from Iowa and has been in the Wolfe family for approximately 80 years. A Steinway square grand piano came from a beer hall in Cassidy, Kansas in the early 1940s and has been in the family ever since.
The communion table and chairs came from the First Christian Church in El Dorado, Kansas. Three-quarters of the pews came from a church in Ordway, Colorado. One quarter of the pews were obtained from St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Manitou Springs, Colorado. The choir pews came from a church in Monte Vista, Colorado.
An antique potbellied iron stove, from Del Norte, Colorado, heats the church on chilly days. All of these antiques are accented with old-fashioned wallpaper.
|
|
|
| |
|
| | |
|
|