Church

The historical church of the little town of Timnath is a well known landmark that is still being used today. The church was built in 1888 by a man named Mr. Teller. Before the present church building was built Timnath Presbyterian Church used to be held in a school house.

When the church was first built it had a fairly large library in it. It contained 212 books. After a few years the library was taken out and many of the books were put into a nearby house. When additions were built in the 1900's and the church had enough space a new library was added. At about the same time a kitchen and a dining room were also added on the east side of the church.

In 1903 a shed was built by the church to house the horses that people rode to come to church. A new shed was built when horses were no longer the main source of transportation. This shed was later used to house the cities fire equipment.

Another addition was built onto the church in 1960. It consisted of a study for the minister, a large room for classes and meetings, and the church's first restrooms to replace the old outhouses. A potbelly coal stove was also removed by the trustees. A new gas furnace was installed in its place.

A new roof was put on the church in 1979 and the original kitchen was remodeled to be a church office. The basement of the church was finished in 1988, but it collapsed after a night of rain. The basement of the church was not built with the first church, but after the church was finished. The basement is now refinished and it is larger than before it collapsed.

Timnath presbyterian Church is a very historical place and hopefully it will stay that way forever.

THE TIMNATH STAINED GLASS WINDOWS By: Alexandra Hampson

The Timnath church has many features, but its stained glass windows definitely take all the credit. Each of the special stained glass windows symbolizes something. The window with the butterfly symbolizes the Circle of Eternity. The arch shaped window shows the boat sailing into the sunrise because the church has hope and faith in Christ. The large wall on the south portrays the history of the Timnath church, with the log cabin, and the pioneers, and the covered wagon. The new testament window which is east of the other windows symbolizes the Lamb of God and the Hand of God. The last two windows symbolize cooperation and encouragement.

The last two windows are made of a ruby red flower pattern that was made from glass imported from Germany. The windows are both made out of special glass that is very old and valuable. There is another type of glass that is blue with the same pattern as the red one. Pastor Taylor molded and created the windows himself after finding extra glass in the back where a shed was located. The shed has since been moved.

The church uses not only the original stain glass windows but the original benches used to sit on. Even though the people who attend the church have not seen the preaching post in a long time they still use it. The only reason they have not seen it is because the church was getting it refinished. The church has a memorial tree with the names of all the past people who helped or attended the church. The church of Timnath is the highlight of the whole town, and the pride and joy. You just can't help falling in love.

The People of the Church  By: Emmalie Pfankuch

There have been many generations of people that have been members of the Presbyterian church of Timnath. Even before the church was built people attended services in schoolhouses called The Bus School. The schoolhouse that housed services also was used for Methodist and United Bethren services. The first Pastors of the Presbyterian services were Reverends D.E. Finks and Joseph Patterson. Reverend D.E. Finks traveled from his home in Fort Collins to the Fairview School which then housed the Presbyterian services. Reverend Finks was succeed by Rev. T. Bliss in 1881. Rev. Bliss traveled from his home in Denver to Fairview school by train each Sunday.

There is a model of a tree, made of glass and wood on the north side of the area where services were held. This tree holds the names of the members of the church that have passed on. There are over fifty names on the tree.

Around a 1888, settlers decided that they should have a burial ground in the town of Timnath. Throughout the years, cattle, weather and vandalism made the position, and identification of the graves almost impossible. Pastors of the church lead funeral services there. The Columbine Club and some of the children of the Timnath school started cleaning up the cemetery in October, 1964. They, along with men of the Timnath community, restored the cemetery and placed a new fence around the burial site. Between 1886 and 1933, approximately 70 people were buried in the cemetery, of those, thirty-one were children or infants under the age of ten. Some of the people buried in the cemetery were people just passing through the town of Timnath. Most members of the church are not buried in the Timnath Cemetery because of its poor condition. One family buried in the cemetery was the Carshrud family. Of them were Jennie, Albert and Lillian who all drowned in their lake along with an uncle and friend. They are all buried in the cemetery along with another Carshrud boy who died long after his siblings. The families headstones are most likely out of order but they are all next to each other. In 1992 only two headstones remained, overturned and out of place. Today, effects of wind and acts of vandalism are still changing what the cemetary looks like and it is not looking good.

The following is a poem by Revilo Reid for the Columbine Club 1/27/66:

In the shade of the Rocky Mountains,
Kissed by the morning sun,
A resting place was found for those
Whose work on earth was done.

The Poudre Valley was their home
Whose forms lie there entombed
Upon a silent, peaceful knoll,
From noise and strife removed.

God grant that we who follow them
May pause and not forget
That of this busy, troubled world
Thou art ruler yet.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Miller, Del, and Elsie Fisher. Timnath, Ft. Collins, Co: The Columbine Club of Timnath, 1996.

Fisher, Elsie. Personal interview. 8 May 2002.

"Timnath Presbyterian Church." <http://www.timnathpres.org>. May 2002.

About the Authors

Alexandra Hampson

Hello, my name is Alexandra Hampson, but you can call me Alex. I helped make this web page when I was in the sixth grade as part of a final choice class. I chose to do the church of Timnath because unlike the other topics it was classic, and packed with unknown facts, and is very interesting. The other reason I chose to do the church is because of the wonderful crafted stained glass. The history of them is truly amazing. That's why I chose to do the church.

To get all the information all we had to do was talk to Elsie Fisher, a lady who has attended the church since she was born. She explained how the church has gone through changes, and the problems the church faced when the bottom of the church (also known as a basement) collapsed and they had to build it all over again. We got more of the information from the Timnath book of History which Elsie Fisher helped write along with Del Miller who also gave us some information. The last person who was a part of the reason that this web page was created is 5th grade teacher Peg Boling.

When the day came to go on a trip to interview the people at the church, I was very excited and not at all nervous. I had a very good time and had tons of questions. When we were there every corner we went around had something new and it was really cool. My favorite thing that we saw was the first cross that the church ever had. It was so thin and valuable. It is very special to the church not to mention very important in the history of the church.

I would just like to thank Elsie Fisher in particular because it would not have been possible to make this web site without her. A special thanks to Del Miller for sharing what she knew with us, as well as Peg Boling. And a very special thanks to Mrs. Durkin for letting us do this wonderful project.

Emmalie Pfankuch

I, Emmalie Pfankuch, created the People of the church web page when I was in the sixth grade. I chose to study the History of the Timnath Church because I wanted to know more about my surroundings. I thought it would be cool to learn about the past and how Timnath has evolved over the years.

I would like to thank Elsie Fisher for her time and for helping us so much with our report. I would also like to thank Mrs. Boling for her help with our project. Both Mrs. Fisher and Mrs. Boling are members of the Timnath Presbyterian Church and have been there for over 20 years. Thanks also to the Timnath book written by the Columbine Club, and the Timnath Church's web site.

My group and I were able to interview Mrs. Fisher at the Timnath Church. She showed us the basement, the classrooms, and the old and new equipment. She told us about the additions of the church and where things might be found.

I enjoyed learning so much about not only the church but also about our school and World War II. I would like future investigators to expand upon the history of the members of the church and maybe learn more about Timnath's Feed and Grain. I would like to help restore and take care of the cemetery and also white wash the T on the hill overlooking Timnath.