Interdenominational
Church Services
Everyone is welcome!
Schedule: Because the summer
population of Pitkin swells to over 300, and
the permanent population is under 90, the
Pitkin Community Church is a summer church,
open between Memorial and Labor Days.
In June and July there are usually two
services to accommodate the attendees:
8:30 and 10:00 a.m.
Membership/Attendance:
Most people attending are summer guests,
either visitors for a weekend, a week, or
the entire summer. The Church offers
Associate Memberships to guests who have
permanent memberships in their home area.
Any summer Sunday morning, you will find
most pews and chairs filled.
Guest Ministers: As the church
enters its second century of ministry,
worship services are conducted during the
summer months by volunteer ministers who are
scheduled by a member of the board of
trustees.
Donations: 70% of offerings are
donated to several missionaries supported by
the church. This is possible because
the church has no year-round utility or
salary expenses.
History: The Pitkin Community
Church was established May 1901 as the First
Presbyterian Church of Pitkin Colorado.
The story of the earlier 1860-1870's gold rush pioneers
who were responsible for first populating
this area, is one of adventure,
courage, faith and hope, vision and
sacrifice. The men and
women who came here seeking wealth also
sought to establish their faith—and while
most of the evidence of their existence is
gone or in ruins, one monument still stands:
that is the Pitkin Community Church, the
little gabled Queen Ann style building
stands as a testimony to those faithful
pioneers.
The following excerpts are from "A Rock of Ages in
the Quartz Creek Valley" by Myron D. Dillow,
copyright 2002:
"The gold rush of 1859 brought
thousands of miners to Colorado seeking
their Bonanza and a corresponding lifestyle.
However, the vast majority fo those fortune
seekers found life very harsh.
The exact date miners first entered
the Gunnison Country has not been
established; however, they were in the area
by 1859 to 1861, and some even earlier.
Among those who followed the migration
west were missionaries and preachers.
John L Dyers (1812-1901), a pioneer
Methodist preacher called "The Snow-Shoe
Itinerant", was one of those courageous and
hearty pioneers.
On Monday, September 16, 1861, he set
out for California Gulch, now Leadville,
having been solicited to preach there by the
pastor. He made his way over the range,
about eight miles, to the top of Mosquito
Pass, noting it was "the highest range I had
then crossed." From that vantage point he
"could see the head of the Platte River,
Arkansas, Blue River, and the head of the
Grand River; like the Garden of Eden, it was
at least the starting point of all these
mighty rivers." He continued:
As I took a view of those gigantic
mountain peaks and deep gorges, the thought
came to me, if heaven is above, I am nearer
Canaan's shores than ever before. After
prayer for our country (now engaged in the
bitter Civil War) on both sides, and for
myself, alone on the dividing range of our
great cotinent, I partook of my frugal
stores, and that night preached at
California Gulch, now Leadville. The next
day (September 17, 1861) started alone for
the Gunnison country, following an Indian
trail. Had to wade the Arkansas. Took off my
boots and I thought the top of the cold
water would cut my legs off; and that day I
saw for the first time the beautiful Twin
Lakes. My surprise may be imagined. My path
was up Lake Creek, a perfect mountain
wilderness, snowy ranges towering on either
side. I had not seen a human being for
several miles; night was coming on, and I
began to look for a camping place. I heard,
just as the sun was sinking behind the
snow-capped mountains, the sound of a bell,
and soon found five men. They had one burro
to pack their food and blankets. I asked for
lodging. They said" "If you can furnish your
own accommodations, you can stay." I
accepted.
I told him I was a bit of a Methodist
preacher, and would like to preach in his
house. He said: "you can, sir, when I get the
roof on."
It was announced for the next night,
and nearly every man in the diggings came.
There were a table and two benches. When the
benches were full, the hearers sat on the
ground all around the walls, and the next
row against their knees, until every foot of
space was filled....My subject was "Repentance and
Conversion." A more attentive crowd is
seldom seen, and God's presence was
manifest, and the preacher felt that he was
standing between the living and the dead.
This was the first effort in the
way of preaching ever made in all the
Gunnison country. ..."
One can only imagine the awe of those who
first crossed the Continental Divide and
looked down upon the pristine beauty of the
Quartz Creek Valley—the majestic mountains,
the beautiful valleys, streams, large park
or meadow where Pitkin would one day be
located.
These pioneers established a town called
Quartzville in February 1879, then changed
the name to Pitkin in honr of their
respected governor, Fredrick W. Pitkin, in
August of that year.
News of ore discoveries spread like
wildfire, and prospectors came by the
scores. The census of 1880 reported 1,893
residents in the town alone. "
Unlike John Dyer noting in his journal
the first preaching of the Gospel in the
Gunnison Country, we do not have a record of
the missionary or preacher's name that first
preached the Good News here. However, we
have glimpses and sketches of their work in
the valley. And the fact that we celebrate
over a century of their work is a tribute of
the lasting value of their faith and work.
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