Beginning August 1, 1896 Reverend Charles W. Smith served as pastor of the
Seibert Church, and in the year 1900, in order that a Church building
might be erected, a grant loan of $215.00 was secured from the
Congregational Church Building Society, and a frame building was then
erected. This building was dedicated on June 16, 1902, in
conjunction
with an ordination service held for the pastor at that time, Reverend N. H. Hawkins.
During the succeeding years the church work gradually grew with the
membership increasing so that the church building became inadequate, and so during the pastorate of Reverend Edward P. Owen plans were made for
the erection of another more adequate church building. Application was
made for another grant loan from the Congregational Church Building
Society for $400.00, and a new building was erected and completed in
1914. Plans were discussed for the building of a parsonage, but no
action was taken. In the year 1915 the old church building was sold to
Mr. B. E. Roller, and the interior of the new building was remodeled and completed.
In the following years many pastors served the church, most of them
also preaching in other churches, including Stratton, Cope, Flagler, and other towns in the country areas.
There was little growth in the church in the late 1920s. While
Reverend I. A. Young, an Evangelical preacher, was in town visiting his
daughter, Mrs. John Schekel, the church requested his help. Reverend
Young suggested the Evangelical Church might be able to supply pastors
and the people decided to contact Reverend B. Barthel, District
Superintendent of the Colorado Conference. This contact resulted in the Reverend R. D. Dexheimer being appointed pastor for Seibert at the 1927 Conference.
When Reverend Dexheimer arrived on the field he immediately began an
aggressive program to build up the church. The people of the community
rallied in a splendid manner and progress was made. At a publicly
announced meeting held on August 25, 1927 of the members of the Seibert
Congregational Church, a vote was taken on the question of whether they
wanted to become an Evangelical Church. The vote was 26 in favor with
none opposed.
On October 5, 1927 , the Seibert Congregational Church became the new
Trinity Evangelical Church with 64 people being received into church
fellowship as charter members. A full basement was build under the
church building and this proved to be a great improvement. A house was
also secured and purchased for a parsonage. It was located diagonally
across the street from the church building. Following the above
mentioned improvements on the Seibert Church, and the acquisition of the parsonage, there was now a small local debt of $465.66.
The church was dedicated November 5, 1927 by Reverend B. Barthel,
District Superintendent of the Colorado Conference. Other ministers
present besides the pastor, Reverend R. D. Dexheimer, were Reverend C.
D. Nash of Genoa, Reverend I. A. Young of the Denver Alameda Church, and Reverend L. D. Hale of Stratton. There was also a large attendance of
people of the community with great rejoicing through the day.
Reverend F. F. Jordan, an Evangelist from Illinois, held a Revival in
Seibert and also at the 2nd Central Appointment. Many souls were saved
as a result and united with the church. By Conference time in 1928,
total membership was 150.
The youth have always been important in this church. One organization
which provided a place for the youth was Christian Endeavor. This was a youth organization of Evangelical Protestant Churches which was founded by Francis E. Clark in 1881. The purpose of Christian Endeavor was to
promote Christian growth and service. The motto of Christian Endeavor
was: "For Christ and The Church". The Movement spread rapidly and in
1895 the World's Christian Endeavor Union was formed with thousands of
societies in local churches. It was international, interdenominational
and interracial. The emblem was a "C" with an "E" in the Center.
Our Evangelical church had an active Christian Endeavor group. It met
on Sunday evenings before the regular church service. The youth took
turns leading the meetings in discussions, prayer and song. This
training prepared many of these youth to serve as leaders in their
churches today.
Every three months there was a rally which alternated among several
churches in a wide area. A theme for the rally was chosen and we
divided into groups with the young people leading the discussions. In
the fall there was a statewide convention which was always inspiring and well attended.
Christian Endeavor helped the youth develop their Christian faith while allowing them time for fun with others their own age.
The Seibert Church Aid Society was active at this time. And by 1928 we had an active Women's Missionary Society, as well as an active Ladies
Aid Society.
In 1949 the Evangelical Church and the United Brethren Church joined
and we became The Evangelical United Brethren Church.
From 1952-1954 an addition was built on the west side of the church
during the ministry of Reverend Francis Bayles, Jr. Several classrooms
were added by this addition. Also the front of the church was shifted
from the north toward the west, using our new addition.
On April 23, 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren denomination and the Methodist denomination united to become the United Methodist
denomination. The Seibert United Methodist Church incorporated in
April, 1974.
The help of a very active and dedicated group of United Methodist Women enabled the church to continue. Our women in 1973 began what they
believed would be a small money-making project. They made chicken door
stops. In all 3,583 of these chicken door stops had been made and
sold. These chickens went to many states including Alaska, Hawaii and
the country of Japan. Many church projects were able to be
accomplished from their sale.
Also around 1970, a group of our ladies of the WSCS (Women's Society of Christian Service) began quilting. They finished many quilts that we
had in our possession and later began quilting for others in our
community and then expanded to quilting for folks in other areas as
well. We have quilted and finished over 60 quilts.
For several years in the mid-1990s our little church had the
distinction of having as one of its members the oldest person living in
Colorado. Bessie Short was a member of our church. She went to be with her Lord in 1997. She was 111 years young.
In June 1998 our church board, after much prayer and reflection, and
after a unanimous vote by our congregation, by formal letter we
presented a request to the Annual Conference Session of the Rocky
Mountain Conference of the United Methodist Church at their annual
meting in Fort Collins. In our letter we asked to be allowed to
dissolve the bond between The United Methodist Church and the Seibert
United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Church granted our
request and gave us the deed to all our property, with all the rights
and privileges pertinent thereto.
We are the Seibert Community Church. It was determined by our
congregation that we wanted to be in association with a group of
Bible-believing churches and it was at this time that we officially
affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America.
 On December 18, 2004, in the wee hours of the morning, our church
building was completely engulfed in flames. In a matter of a few hours
the building was completely destroyed by this fire. The bell in the
bell tower came crashing to the ground and landed in what had been the
basement. The bell has been retrieved and will be in the bell tower of
our new church building.
The church building was destroyed. The Church, however, has remained
strong and faithful. The Church is the people of God. We are the
Church. We are the body of Christ. We did not miss even one Sunday
worship service of our congregation. Through the generosity of the
townspeople of Seibert we were able to meet in the Park Community Center for our worship services and other gatherings. Then in September of
2005 we were blessed with being able to continue our worship services
and gatherings in what had been the old Nazarene Church.
For the last year we have been developing plans for the church building which we hope to construct on newly acquired property where the church
building will be visible from Interstate 70 and Colorado Highway 59.
These plans we will put out for bid in December 2005. Please pray that
the resources necessary for this new construction will be forthcoming.
Keep praying that this congregation will be in God's will at all times.
We seek to continue to bring the Light of the Gospel of God's Word to
all who will hear. We are acutely aware that each of us may be "the
only Bible some people will ever read." We pray the print will be clear and distinct. We seek to serve the Lord God faithfully all our lives.
In our Sunday School, both adult and youth, in our Men's Group
"Fisher's of Men," in our Women's Group, "Sisters in Faith," in our
Youth Group, "The Lighthouse Club," we seek to learn and to grow in our
faith. Our monthly newsletter, "The Churchbell" reaches many folks
throughout the country.
We seek to live as James told us to: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He
will come near to you." (James 4:7-8a)
|
