Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West

This history of the Ecumenical Church is taken from The First 25 Years as prepared by Arla Aschermann,  We are sure that there are events which have not been covered and welcome any additions that might be made.

Thirty nine years ago (1967) Pueblo West was a treeless, open cattle range covered with buffalo grass, yucca and cactus, with cedars and pinon pine dotting the shale-covered upland areas.

To the south, the sparkling Arkansas River meandered through cottonwood groves as swallows built their mud nests in the cliffs. Keeping sentinel toward the sunset were the blue mountains, from Pike's Peak in the north, to the Wet Mountains (or the Sierra Mojada as the old-timers called them) to the twin Spanish Peaks to the south.

But changes were on the way. The Frying Pan Act passed by Congress in 1963 meant that a huge dam would soon span the Arkansas west of Pueblo, and by 1969 McCulloch Properties of Arizona had begun to develop a planned community overlooking the north shore of the future Pueblo Reservoir. It would be known as Pueblo West.

By 1971 people from everywhere, particularly the mid-west as well as from the Pueblo area, were moving into Pueblo West, and as it always is, schools and churches were uppermost in many minds. It was then that seeds were planted for the Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West.

The story of Alice Bunch is more or less typical. A recent widow, her eye was caught by an ad placed by McCulloch Properties in the Chicago Tribune inviting people to fly to Colorado. Alice obligingly flew in to Pueblo with her college-age son. It was a sunny day, and contrasting foggy, misty Chicago with the blue skies and glorious view of Pikes peak, Alice was hooked. In September 1971 she moved to Pueblo West.

Not able to imagine life without church on Sunday, Alice decided to attend the First Presbyterian Church in Pueblo. Then she learned that the Arthur Stegalls of Arizona, who had sold a portion of their Colorado ranch land to the McCulloch Company for Pueblo West, were putting up money to build a church in Pueblo West. What was known as the Pueblo West Community Church soon began holding services in a small conference room at the Pueblo West Inn. Alice joined the group in 1972.

Mrs. Stegall hired a Baptist minister and an architect. Soon the beautiful little church with the huge window facing Pikes Peak was built near the highway east of the main entrance to Pueblo West. It was planned for seating 120 people. Then Mrs. Stegall searched for a denomination to take over the church's financial affairs--building upkeep, hiring of pastors and other responsibilities--and it turned out that only the Southern Baptist Church in Pueblo was willing to absorb all costs.

Meanwhile, the little congregation outgrew the conference room at the Inn and began meeting at the Mobile Home Recreation Center. In a little while some of the people, not entirely satisfied with the name of "Community Church," which seemed too generic, suggested the title of "Ecumenical Church." It was more appropriate as members came from a number of differing church backgrounds. The brief statement of faith written out at that time is on record and includes today's Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West. "We wanted to build on our strengths and not on the things that had divided churches in the past," Alice explained.

When Mrs. Stegall's church building was almost finished, some gentlemen from the Southern Baptist church in Pueblo came out to the Rec Center to invite everyone to attend services at the new Community Church. Questions were asked, and it was learned that in order to belong to the Southern Baptist-sponsored church individuals would have to be baptized by immersion, thus negating the beliefs of some of the former Methodists and others. Six or seven people of the congregation decided to go with the Southern Baptists at the Community Church; the others continued as the Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West.

These were the people who signed the charter of the Ecumenical Church in October 1972, taking this pledge:

We the residents of Pueblo West believe we have a given opportunity here where there are no

churches or church traditions, to establish an ecumenical church, more than inter-

denominational; a social, spiritual environment

based on the strengths of our common beliefs as a body in Christ unhindered by divisive interpretations of the past.

Signed by:

Alice Catterall Bunch Delores M. Clemmer Donald P. Clemmer James K. Marcum

J. Kathryn Marcum

Clara M. Priebe [Jessogne] Andra L. Reints Walter C. Reints

Ronald A. Robbins

Veronica (Ronnie) A. Robbins Francis Slaughter Martha Slaughter Jim Slaughter

Mrs. Jack Graves

Elizabeth B. Smith Howard W. Smith

Ray M. Farnsworth

Carolyn D. Farnsworth Mae Kuelper

Stephen L. Kuelper Elsie Stan

Helen L. Bakotic Doris Kaltenbach Connie L. Horton

Stephen W. Horton Hans Kaltenbach

Nancy M. Kansorka [Russell]

[Of this group, in 1997 only Clara Jessogne and Nancy Russell remain as members. Alice Bunch passed away in 1996.]

For a while, a variety of guest ministers from Pueblo served the young church. They came from Ascension Episcopal Church, First United Methodist, Westminster Presbyterian and others. Requests for a pastor were sent to the major denominations (Presbyterian, American Baptist, American Lutheran, United Methodist). With only about 25 members, they had barely enough money for regular expenses, but they were excited to learn that a young man named David Becker was coming from New York to Faith United Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs as an assistant pastor. He might be interested in serving the Ecumenical Church if worship hours could be coordinated with his Colorado Springs schedule. He agreed to be Organizing Pastor on a half-time salary, but he specified that he be allowed to do what he liked in worship services. He said, "I am not much for the old traditional ways of worshipping, and I think I can bring you something new and exciting." Also, the only time he could come was at seven o'clock on Sunday evenings. Thankful to have a pastor, the people agreed to his terms. In September 1973 Dave Becker started commuting from the Springs to the Rec Center. At his urging, the Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West was incorporated that fall.

Every church must have a choir, and the Ecumenical Church had one from the very beginning. Most of the small congregation loved to sing, and had previous choir experience, including Jim and Kathie Marcum, members of the group. They had been with the church since the Pueblo West Inn days and had been choir leaders in Illinois. By this time at the Rec Center, Ken and Shirley Stanelle and their family were regulars. On a typical Sunday, Ken explained, nine people stood up to sing in the choir--and three were left in the congregation! "And it was great," Ken said. "We sang the hymn, including even Dave Becker, our minister, then we all sat down again, and we had a congregation."

But procuring funds to pay expenses and eventually to fulfill a dream of having a sanctuary of their own, was of first consideration. In 1973, the total budget was $3,300. In 1974, it was $7,500, but by that time the membership had increased to 75 people. They were outgrowing the Rec Center. Shirley Stanelle explained how that particular problem was resolved.

"Dave Becker had asked Ken if they could put on the Christmas program at our pottery plant." (The Stanelles' S-K Pottery Plant was located in the Pueblo West industrial park north of Highway 50). "We had a large lunch room there. Of course Ken said, 'Yes.' But Ken went out of town and neglected to tell me. So, I was in church with the children that day, and Dave told everybody, 'We're going to have the Christmas program at the pottery, and in order to practice we're going to move everything over there.' And he said, 'Do you have your van, Shirley? After church we'll move the organ.' I was sitting there with my mouth open because I didn't know anything about it, and of course after church they just moved everything over in my van and never did go back--they stayed forever!"

Pueblo West was growing, and more and more people were deciding the Ecumenical Church was where they wanted to worship. They were filled with enthusiasm, determined to be a leading church of the community. The place of worship was a little out of the ordinary, but it was mostly families, with little children crawling around the floor. Before church each Sunday people pitched in and wiped the pottery dust off everything, set the chairs around, brought out the pulpit (a rostrum) from the shipping department, the altar (a little table) from the office, the special church things from a protected place where they were kept during the week, and they were in business! Making the temporary worship center a special place were the gleaming brass cross and candlesticks donated to the congregation in May 1972 by the late Fr. Chauncey Minnick, pastor of Ascension Episcopal Church in Pueblo. The cross adorns the wall in the narthex today.

After services each Sunday evening--under the watchful eye of a huge moose head on the wall--the members put everything away so S-K Pottery business could continue as usual on Monday.

Finances during these days were almost nil. No money to print a Sunday bulletin, for instance, so the Stanelles printed some re-usable worship folders on their mimeograph machine. Enclosed in bright covers were five or six different Calls to Worship and Prayers of Confession, all numbered. The folders were handed out each Sunday. Pastor Becker would announce the Call to Worship to be used that day, and which Prayer of Confession, then after church the folders were collected for use the next Sunday. As there were no hymnals for music, Pastor Becker taught new, often contemporary, songs. During this time the church leaders decided to have Communion every Sunday.

Although this was an Ecumenical church, Dave Becker, a Presbyterian, was able to designate the church a Presbyterian mission. Some mission money began to trickle in. Later, a similar arrangement was made with the American Baptist Church and more money was received. But building a bank account took great effort. One year at Thanksgiving orders were taken for pumpkin and apple pies and home- made noodles. Ten or eleven women met on Saturday at Nancy Kansorka's house to bake the pies and make the noodles for the fund raiser.

There were spaghetti dinners. The first was a true community affair as the population of Pueblo West then was only around 1,500. Plans were to have the dinner at the elementary school since there was no church kitchen, but minds were changed when they learned it would cost $75 to use the school facilities. It might just as well have been $750, because they didn't have it! So, members of the congregation brought their Coleman gas stoves to the pottery plant--good thing the Health Department didn't get wind of it! Spaghetti for some 900 people was cooked that night on those Coleman stoves. Trip after trip to what was then Kwik-Way was made for more spaghetti. Kettles were kept boiling. and as fast as it cooked the hot spaghetti was put on plates. No one complained! The cooks were there from 4:30 p.m. until midnight, but they raised" a ton of money," according to Ken Stanelle. That was the start of the spaghetti dinners. Since then. many other dinners and ice cream socials have been held.

Breakfasts were also money-makers. One featured "Burrito a la Gallegos" before breakfast burritos had caught on at local restaurants. The burritos were scrambled egg and fried potatoes. onions and hot green peppers wrapped in a flour tortilla. The recipe came from a pottery plant employee.

Not all efforts were aimed at making money. The Guild was organized to have fun. It filled an important social need for people, most of whom had recently moved to Pueblo West from Michigan, Illinois. Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and other states. Since there were not yet enough members to form a Women's Club or a Men's Club. the Guild was a mixed group of couples and single people. For a long time they had monthly potluck dinners in members' homes. There were International Dinners. with food and program based on a specific country. Newcomers often attended Guild dinners to get acquainted then joined the group.

A newsletter called The Holy Grapevine was started and mailed to everyone in the community, possible then because the community was still small.

An Evangelism Outreach program was started through the Presbyterian Church. Shirley Kramer, Eileen Rosenthal and Shirley Stanelle attended meetings. It was at that time the Telephone Tree and the Prayer Chain, also the Prayer Family of the Week. were started.

The Ecumenical Youth Fellowship came about through an invitation extended by Penny Stanelle at Pinon Junior High. On the first Saturday 26 kids showed up--it made no difference whether or not they belonged to the Ecumenical Church. The youth group was off to a rousing start. Outreach, as well as fun, was stressed in months and years to come. In 1981, sixteen teen-agers and five adults staged a "work camp" in the San Luis Valley, doing chores for the elderly and disabled such as scrubbing walls and ceilings, painting houses, repairing porches, windows and doors; stuccoing, building fences and handling minor plumbing and roofing repairs. The trip was financed through a church breakfast, chicken dinner and pizza supper. "Slave Days" are still popular for raising money. Dressed in fun costumes, the youngsters auction off their services after church for tasks such as painting, window washing, weeding, baby-sitting, or washing cars.

Especially in the early days most of the church families participated in these various projects. It was a great time for sharing faith and talents. Every one knew everyone else, and feelings of fellowship and mutual help were strong. When someone was caught in a bind, everyone pitched in to help, such as the time six pickups turned up to help one family move.

Meanwhile, Dave Becker moved to Pueblo to become the full time minister. In 1974 he inquired of McCulloch Properties as to the cost of a church site. The reply was discouraging: $15,000 per acre, "with terms as low as 10% down and ten years to pay." The idea of acquiring a site was dropped, at least for then.

Then the ax fell! Pastor Dave decided it was time to work on his doctorate, and resigned. The Ecumenical Church was left without a minister.

For a year, beginning in September 1976, a guest preacher had to be found for each Sunday night's services. They came from all over Colorado. The Presbyterian and American Baptist churches in Pueblo, particularly, helped find speakers but occasionally someone from the congregation had to fill in. Alice Bunch, Ken Stanelle and others led informal services.

The search for a regular minister went on. A Nominating Committee was formed and submitted according to the Presbyterian and American Baptist pastoral calling procedures. Interviews were conducted. Finally, information came about a Dr. Harold Fredsell, who was in the national office of the Presbyterian Church and was about to retire from that position. He and Margaret wished to move to a better climate than New York City. Pueblo West would suit them fine. Best of all, Reverend Fredsell had long experience in building churches. That was exactly what the Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West needed. In October 1977 Dr. Fredsell was installed as full-time minister.

Church people said, "McCulloch should GIVE the land for a church!" But that was expecting a lot. If they gave land to the Ecumenical Church, land would also have to be given to any denomination wanting to build in Pueblo West, and other churches had already asked for free land and were refused.

So, a special drive for money to acquire land was held and an idea was presented to the Church Board. On March 28, 1977, Ken Stanelle, head of the Land Acquisition Committee, wrote to Joanne Kobli, Vice President of McCulloch Properties in Fountain Hills, Arizona as follows:

Dear Ms. Kobli:

The Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West is pleased and proud to announce the building of a church in Pueblo West. To better describe our plans, we are building more than a church. Jt will be a seven day week structure serving all faiths without exception.

Our first phase of building will be the fellowship hall which will also include an adequate kitchen. Our hopes are to provide a temporary church home and a hall and kitchen as well to many groups in Pueblo West. Our second phase of building will be the sanctuary.

Wllitney Graves, a member, and also a Pueblo West contractor is working on and nearing completion of the plans.

The church is presently meeting at SK Potteries, but the space provided is fast becoming inadequate.

The need for a church of this type is beyond questioning, and is long overdue. The Spanish motif of the planned building will fit well in the area and blend into the surroundings.

Obviously we need land to build it on, and therein lies the problem. To the best of our knowledge, no one seems to know a price of the property at the present time. We would like to purchase lot #13, block #7, tract #346, on the corner of Spaulding and Conquistador, which has been designated as church property. We feel its central location will help serve the greater amount of people.

As I'm sure you realize, Pueblo West has a certain percentage of talkers and few doers. We would like to classify ourselves as doers. Enclosed in our check for $5366.40, which is the total amount of money we have for the property. We sincerely hope and pray this amount will cover the aforementioned land.

We should be able to start our building within ninety days. Please advise as soon as the property becomes available as we are most anxious to start building. To speed your reply, you may call me at SK Potteries, 547-3322 or at home, 547-3669.

Sincerely,

(Signed) Kenneth G. Stanelle Building committee chairman

Approved by: Earl Kramer, Church Board President

The reply to Ken‘ s letter was dated April 29.

Dear Mr. Stanelle,'

This will acknowledge your letter of March 28, 1977, as well as confirm our subsequent telephone conversation regarding the Ecumenical Church's interest in the purchase of Lot 13, Block 7, Tract 346 at Pueblo West for the construction of a church facility.

As we discussed, our Executive Committee has agreed to sell the above referenced property to the Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West for $5,366.40 on the condition that the church begins construction immediately.

Our legal staff will prepare the necessary documents relating to the purchase of the subject property, and they will forward these documents to you within the next week. In the meantime, if you have any questions on the above, please let me know.

Sincerely,

(Signed) Johanna K. Kobli (Mrs.) Vice President

And so the site for a new church was acquired, paid in full by cash in the building fund -- even to its last forty cents!

When Reverend Fredsell came, with his expertise in such matters, he approached the National Presbyterian Church for a $50,000 loan to apply on building the church. The loan was arranged at very low interest, and another $50,000 loan was obtained from the American Baptist Church. A drive for pledges to repay the loans went forward. Around this time the General Secretary of the Consultation of Church Union came to visit. This national organization was formed by seven Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church for the purpose of exploring merger incorporation. Attention had been called to the unusual cooperative experiment taking place in Pueblo West, Colorado. A lot of ecumenical-based churches had been started, but at that time this was the first congregation in the United States to ever make it work. Usually, one denomination or another would dominate, but the Pueblo West church was determined to MAKE it work, with no one denomination taking over. , Now they were ready to build. Even before the Fredsells came, the congregation had met and decided they wanted a southwestern style of architecture. The first architectural plans did not seem quite right, so Reverend Fredsell talked to the architect, John Hurtig, who agreed to produce a master plan for the first unit. His plans were later altered slightly to include a courtyard and wall. Alice Bunch spent two weeks at the Summit Brick plant carving 2,000 bricks for the frieze, which she and her three sons donated as a memorial to her husband.

Hurtig supervised construction of the first unit, which ended just short of the second narthex which was (after the second unit was built and until the new Sanctuary was completed in 1995) the main entrance. This first unit was ready to move into in September 1979.

There was a kitchen, but it was just four walls--no stove, refrigerator, pots, pans or dishes. It so happened that the historic Vail Hotel in downtown Pueblo was being closed as a hotel in preparation for remodeling into Senior Citizens' apartments. An auction was announced, for all kinds of kitchen equipment. Ken Stanelle, then president of the congregation, decided to attend the auction. For $431 he came away with bowls, cups, ladles, steel trays, a big frying pan, a steel cart, a steam table, and a stove. With the cups, which cost $8.00, there was a box of crackers included! When the stove came up for bid, Ken started off with $100, but the price kept going up. Finally there was a bid of $145, and Ken yelled out, "Hey, guys, this is for a church. $150'" The bidding stopped and he got the stove for $150. The kitchen could now be made ready for use, with other equipment to be added later.

Memorials and gifts from various sources started coming in for furnishing the new church. Additional kitchen equipment was financed by the Women's Fellowship and the the Guild, and other useful and beautiful items were donated by the women, youth and other groups and by individuals.

Besides gifts of tangible items, talents have always been a very important part of the church. It is amazing how many craftsmen, gardeners, business persons, musicians, teachers and other persons with special gifts and training began coming forward to volunteer their time and talents.

The music has always been outstanding, from our regular organist, Ken Joyal, and from soloists, youth choirs and the adult choir. One secret of the adult choir's success is that choir practice has become not a chore but one of the high points of the week. Because of the mix of classical and modern music and the relaxed fun-filled atmosphere that director Vanessa (Stauffer) Foderaro (since 1984) and accompanist Ken Joyal provide, our music program has grown. As someone said, "Our choir is the soul of our church."

Continued growth of the Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West is envisioned, with a new sanctuary hopefully just around the corner. But more important than growth in numbers is the enduring feeling of fellowship and helpfulness within the congregation. Members interviewed for this history in 1992 dwelt on the team effort through the years, not the effort of just two or three. They suggested that each of the first three full-time ministers served a special need of his particular time. Dave Becker was young, very energetic and quite creative. Harold Fredsell was older ,.with expertise in the building of churches. Bob Langbauer's expertise, they said, has been in making the ecumenical idea work and grow. Ken Stanelle said, "It seemed that the good Lord sent us these three people at the times when we needed them most We've got to keep changing with the times, something different each Sunday, being with different people and different outlooks. It's great to sit down in church and know the person next to you may be Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian -- it doesn't make any difference. They are all people of God, and that's what the church is all about." He spoke for all the old-timers when he declared that the closeness of the difficult early days is something to be treasured forever.

-- Arla Aschermann, 1992