HISTORY OF OUR CHURCH

 

 

            For those of you not here when ‘The First Ten Years “ history of our church was printed in volume 11 newsletter, October 1996, we would like to summarize that article so you will have an idea of our beginnings.  Our dear friend, the late Dorothy Harris, wrote the article.  We will condense that and continue through the years until the present time.  Gloria Folsom did the history for 2000-2001, and Diane Thompson did it from 2001 to May 2004 .

            The Rev. William J. Buehler, former pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Springerville, believed in a strong central church surrounded by satellite missions led by lay people.  The Alpine Community Presbyterian Church was the fifth such mission of the Springerville church, and the only one still in existence.

            In 1985, the Rev. Myron White was called by the Springerville church as Parish Missionary with responsibility for the mission in St. Johns and for exploring the opportunities for a mission in Alpine.  In the fall of 1986 Rev. White left, but a committee was formed to continue the planning for Alpine.  After an organizational meeting and short worship service, the Alpine mission was launched.  The first formal worship service was held on February 15, 1987 at the Forest Service District Office in Alpine.  The first communion service was held on March 1^st and by April 1^st officers were chosen – president, Linda Sonive; vice-president/secretary, Kelli Lee, and treasurer, Sally Zetteli.

            In May 1987 the group rented a vacant store building, purchased chairs, secured a cross and lectern, and the Alpine church became a viable mission.  The first three members were received, and three children baptized on June 7, 1987.  Services were held at 7:00 p.m. and led by lay preachers.  The Rev. Buehler served communion on the first Sunday of each month.  This practice continued until 1989 when the time of the service was changed to 11:30 a.m.

            In December of 1988, the owner of the Old Bush Valley Trader’s building where the church had been meeting decided to reopen the store, thus it became necessary to search for a new place in which to worship.  The Alpine Library was used, but the quarters proved to be too small.  An acre of land was given to the church by a member of the Springerville congregation; the following summer a 14 ft. by 60 ft. mobile home was purchased.  It was moved onto the lot in December 1989.  After tearing out partitions, a space was available for the sanctuary.  On May 27, 1990, the church was dedicated by Rev. Buehler, assisted by the priest of St. Helena’s Catholic Church, the pastor of the Alpine Baptist Church, and a visiting Presbyterian pastor.

            Among the first gifts to the church were a beautiful stained glass window, designed and crafted by Wanda Jones, an alligator juniper cross made by Dick Youse, and a pulpit constructed by Dr. Thelma Wenger (both Dick and Thelma were from the Springerville church).   Many memorial gifts have since been made to the church.

            During the winter of 1991 the Rev. and Mrs. Stanley Kain moved to Springerville; Rev. Kain soon filled the pulpit of our small mission.  Monthly potlucks were held and an infant was baptized. In the next three years many “firsts” took place – vacation Bible school, the first Christmas Eve candlelight service, the first Lenten soup supper studies, the first Maundy Thursday service, the first Easter sunrise service at Luna Lake, and the formation of a steering committee with eight members.  in August of 1994 the first two adults were baptized and received into membership.  At Christmas time our live tree was hung with Chrismons made by Gisela Kain and Diane Thompson.  Summer attendance had averaged fifteen with as few as three in attendance during the winter, if the weather was bad. Under the leadership of Rev. Kain, attendance rose and, because of this, in 1994 we started looking for property on which to build a new church.

            From its beginning the church has been entirely self-supporting, receiving no financial help from the Springerville church.  The church has been very generous in its mission giving and its support of numerous causes.  A mile of highway near the church was adopted and is cleaned of liter two or three times each year.  “The Tooth Fairy Project” was launched when Linda Sonive, a member of the steering committee and a teacher at the Alpine School, told about children at school with dental problems because their parents could not afford dental care. 

            Two major events in the life of the church in 1995 were the acquisition of a three-acre site for a new sanctuary and on July 9, 1995, the chartering of the Alpine Community Presbyterian Church by the Presbytery of Grand Canyon when we became the 71^st church in the Presbytery.  The chartering service was held at the new site under three tents with twenty-nine charter members on the roll.  Lunch was catered for approximately one hundred people.  The purchased property had on it a house, outbuildings, a well, and a septic system.  Our first yard sale, organized by Mac Jones, plus donations from both members and non-members,   helped raise money to remodel the old ram shackled house into a church. With Duane Springer as chairman, our men and women spent many hours working throughout 1995 and on into 1996 on remodeling the house.  Also in 1995 the first Sunday school class began with one student and two teachers, Jean Brush and Betty Youse and an adult Bible study class with Dorothy Harris as leader.  With Diane Thompson and Grace Cokeley as co-editors, “The Bond of Love” was begun in February, and the first annual retreat was held in September. In November of 1995 the first annual Thanksgiving community dinner was held.

            Another yard sale was held in August of 1996 and also the first luncheon and fashion show was held, with Gina Brown being that organizer.  The first worship service held in our “new” church was on September 8, 1996.  We met at the old trailer site for a solemn good-bye and then proceeded to the new site and our new church home.  There were fifty-three in attendance at this first service in our new sanctuary.   We said farewell on September 29^th to our pastor and his wife, Stan and Gisela Kain, as after forty-two years of ministry he had decided to retire.  They were instrumental in the development of our church, and they were sadly missed.  A pastor’s nominating committee was formed to locate a pastor for us.  Meanwhile we had visiting pastors, lay preachers, and the Presbytery found us ministers for our summer months when our attendance soared.  

            1997 found us continuing our monthly potlucks, Adopt-a-Highway program, Lenten soup-study sessions, Maundy Thursday service, Easter Sunrise service with a pancake breakfast following, “Flowering of the Cross” Easter service, the yard sale, fashion show/luncheon, community Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas social, and Christmas Eve service.  On June 29^th we had the dedication of our new building, which was made complete a short time after with a steeple made by Ken Thompson, a bell donated by Duane and Dorothy Springer, and cupboards/cabinets made by Duane.  Later the trailer from our original property was moved to the site and water, electricity, and plumbing installed.  It would serve as our fellowship hall and a children’s Sunday school, which began again, this time with three children.  The year ended with an increase in attendance (on July 28^th actually 77 in attendance!), but still without a permanent pastor.

            The Community Hymn Sing was started in 1998, the idea coming from the Alpine Baptist Church.  Our church takes turns hosting the sing, along with the Baptist Church and the Nutrioso Bible Church.  Lay preacher, Jerry Miller, was contracted to be our pastor during June, July, and August, and then we extended the contract to go beyond.  At last we had a pastor who would be there each Sunday.  We continued our special activities and services during the year, and under Jerry’s ministry our attendance increased. He and his wife, Diana, bought a used trailer for use as a manse, and we had it placed next to the fellowship hall trailer.

            In 1999 we sold the piece of property where our church was originally, part of the money being used for building various projects and for routine building maintenance. Our men built a passageway between the two trailers, a deck off the rear of our fellowship hall, and later a ramp to the outside area, which was then later developed into a picnic pavilion. The women of the church, influenced by Edie Baker, started the Presbyterian Women’s group.  The big news of the year was the church receiving the Sam and Helen R. Walton Award for New Church Development of $40,000, for which we had been nominated by the interim executive of the Presbytery of Grand Canyon.   We received news of this on June 17, 1999.  This money was to be used in developing our church building and property, within a five–year period.  Our first project was putting gravel down on the parking lot. In the fall the “Mountain Miracle” or the “M & M Odyssey” was introduced by Pastor Miller.  The purpose was to raise money over a three year period to add to the Walton Grant.  A committee was formed to investigate enlarging the present building or building a new sanctuary.  In addition to the regular annual events held each year, the first wedding in the sanctuary took place, a computer was purchased, both mobile homes were painted, and the summer/fall “Come Join Us” trips were started, organized by Burt Miller.  Pastor Miller presented a musical slide show of his wildlife photographs, and a concert by Randy Thompson, a Christian musician, was held at the church. 

            The activities of the church continued throughout 2000 with increased attendance, 20-30 during the winter months and 40-50 during the summer season.  Adult Bible study was conducted with either Pastor Miller or Dorothy Harris leading the group.  Our church library grew with a total of 250 volumes now in it. 

            In February 2001, Pastor Jerry Miller resigned, due to his wife’s health.  Jerry had served for three years on a year-round basis which stimulated church growth and community awareness, but now we were once again in need of a pastor.  A pastor nominating committee was again formed.  Presbytery advised us to seek a pastor for the summer months; during the winter Rev. Dr. Jerry Windsor of Springerville, various lay leaders, and our own members filled the pulpit. Stan Jones, a retired Presbyterian minister, accepted the position for weekends for the summer of 2001. The M & M Building Fund continued to grow; the funds were invested awaiting building plans, however, that summer the plan to build a new sanctuary was put on a temporary hold until we were successful in recruiting a pastor and could financially support such a project.  The loan we had on our current building for a little over $28,000 was paid off, using funds from the Walton Fund. 

            We continued without a pastor in 2002; Jerry Windsor preached for us on the first and third Sundays of each month; on the remaining Sundays we had visiting lay preachers or our own people; we continued with our special services and activities.  This summer we had Rev. Lowell Byall as our summer pastor.  Having a pastor gave us some continuity for our members and summer friends. Our church was painted in the fall, thanks to Carl Bradley.  And, as in the past, we continued to be a church filled with warm feelings and friendship towards all who came through our doors.

            During the spring of 2003 Carl Bradley started the electronic prayer chain, which he continues today.   The spring and summer of 2003 brought us Rev. Bob and Doris Blacker, a retired minister from the Morenci area.  We were pleased with them and asked them to continue coming weekends to serve us, which they did.  We are still searching for a permanent pastor. That brings us up-to-date on the history of our church.  We hope this has given you some insight into our beginnings as a mission church and now our continuing ministry as the Alpine Community Presbyterian Church, “a place to belong, a place to become.”

        as it appeared in “The Bond of Love”, Feb., March, April  2004

 

Update since February 2004

            Dr. Chuck Jenkins has served as our pastor since May 2, 2004, driving up from the valley to Alpine each week.  We are very appreciative of his service to us.  We have continued with our community service – highway cleanup, Thanksgiving community dinner, offering our building to the AA group on Sunday evenings, hosting the Community Hymn Sings every fourth month, and inviting the community to our Christmas Eve and Easter services and breakfast.  During the summer the ladies participated in the Presbyterian Women’s group, and Dr. Jenkins offered a four-week wellness and weight loss seminar.  We continue with the Sunday morning adult Bible study; we also now have a Bible study group on Thursday afternoons.  We are having our soup/study suppers for Lent; our electronic prayer chain continues; we have started a web site.  We are dedicated to our mission giving, our Tooth Fairy program, and being a friendly and helpful church to its members, friends, and whoever may enter its doors.   (update written Feb. 28, 2005)

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