The Chapel continues to share the good news of God’s love in Jesus! We are still meeting at the BTCA building at 10AM on Sundays.

It has been a long time waiting for our new building, but we are grateful to see new enthusiasm and movement. It is our prayer to have a new building on the old site this fall! Please join with us in praying that the obstacles are overcome, that finances are or become sufficient, and that the whole project is an exciting testimony to God’s faithfulness.

The old story of the Parthian shot, where an archer turns to send one last arrow toward the enemy and hits the king, seems to be an illustration of our congregation’s battle with Covid. We all made it through the “pandemic,” with several getting and surviving the virus. But the end of last summer brought a series of losses for our little congregation. Four of the long-term and key members of our church family passed away in the last few months. For a small congregation to lose so much energy has been a challenge. Besides that, we miss our friends. Our hope is in the Lord and the promise of Heaven.

At the same time, we praise God for bringing new folks to worship with us! We continue to be convinced that the Lord wants a stable congregation in the Drake community. The message of His love is needed. So, we are excited to think of a building dedicated to Jesus once again in the community.

These updates may be spaced far apart, but we hope to have more to share in the coming months. Watch here for news of what God is doing with the Chapel in Drake!

Kennie and Sandy Andersen attended the Chapel for many years. Sandy left us 12 years ago and Kennie went home on September 7. It is difficult to describe the loss the Chapel family feels. Kennie was an elder in the church and led the opening worship each Sunday. His constant support and encouragement for the people of the Chapel and the people of our community were gifts from the Lord.

Kennie wrote his life story in his book, Recycled by Jesus. You can listen to his testimony here.

The following link is Kennie’s published obituary.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/reporterherald/name/kennie-andersen-obituary?id=36593938

In early August, the Chapel lost a good friend and family member. Dan Waggoner was a man full of love and enthusiasm for the Lord. That love for Jesus overflowed to others in the church and the community. While we knew Dan’s boldness for the Lord and love for His people, the community knew Dan as a good man with strong faith. Always ready to give a helping hand, Dan encouraged everyone he met.

Some of his community friends shared their thoughts as a tribute to Dan’s memory here:

https://mailchi.mp/b99725d3d5d0/2020-spring-btwcnewsletter-6138437?e=34b12aae41

Welcome! Yes, the Chapel is still around, even though we haven’t updated this page for a while. We continue to meet at the BTCA building next to the fire station near Drake at 10 AM on Sundays. You are always welcome to join with us!

We are still working with our engineers to journey through the county regulations for a new building. We have officially submitted building plans that will fit on our original lot and give us the space we need for ministry. With new floodplain restrictions, half of our already tiny lot became unusable. Our engineers have creatively designed a building that meets the restrictions. A particular concern and prayer issue involves the parking area across the little street. Because of the urban rules of the county, we may be required to have an urban parking area with lights, pavement, markings, etc. At the same time, because of the flood and river grading, we don’t see any possibility of meeting some of those demands. We are praying for variances and considerations from the county on this issue. We ask that you would pray with us.

We have been very careful about asking for financial help because we have not been certain that the county will give us approval to build. We don’t believe it would be right to ask for and collect money for a project that might not happen. However, it now looks like the new building will be possible, and we are moving closer to a time when we will ask for help raising the additional funds to complete the building process.

Our hope and prayer is to be in a new building soon!

After several weeks, the Chapel has finally reopened for worship.  Regular hours (10AM Sundays).  Regular place (BTCA building next to the Drake firestation).

We have plenty of space to spread out, and you are welcome to wear masks or not.  Please come and join us as we praise Jesus!

We have just been informed that our well permit has been approved!  With that and our septic approval in hand, we will begin negotiations with the county again.  It is still our hope and prayer to have a building on our original site by the end of the year.  Please join us in this prayer.  We are looking forward to what God will do!

We have had little reason to update this site – UNTIL NOW!  We are beginning to move forward on a new building.  Scott Zurn, at Level Engineering in Loveland, has been helping us work through the red tape presented by the county and state.  It appears that we have some hope for building on our old site again.

The story is long.  After the flood, as you can see below, came the fire.  Then the road construction.  When the road construction ended, and the road opened again, we learned that the county presented a number of serious obstacles for our rebuilding.  We had an offer for a new property, but that fell through.  After months of serious searching, we determined that we would try to work through the county objections to rebuild on our old lot.

For the past three and a half years we have met at the Big Thompson Canyon Association building near the fire department.  For two years of that we were locked into a Saturday evening meeting time, which was difficult for some.  We are grateful to the BTCA for renting to us and trust that we have been a blessing to them as well.

But now things are brightening again.  A couple of significant obstacles have been overcome.  We are waiting on a well permit.  Once that is approved, we will go to the county again with plans for a building.

So now we are beginning to raise money.  We had fire insurance, and those funds have been protected, but they will be seriously inadequate with the zoning changes and price increases over these three years.  If the Lord leads you to help, you can use the Paypal link on this page or the GoFundMe link here:

https://www.gofundme.com/bring-back-the-chapel

All in all, the Lord has blessed us.  The congregation has remained strong.  New people come, some to visit and some to stay.  We have lost some of our friends and have gained new ones.  The message has been consistent:

God is good all the time!

We have been given permission by the DOT and Kiewit to continue to hold our services at the BTCA building next to the fire station in Drake.  With the road closures our Loveland folks would not have been able to come up the canyon for a service at any time.  Permits for travel through the work zones at certain times were given only to residents of the canyon and mountain communities near Drake.  However, we have special letters allowing us to pass through for our worship services!

Because of the road closure schedule, we are changing our service time and date to:

Saturdays – 5-6PM

This was the best choice of what was available to us.  We invite folks in the Drake and Glen Haven area to join us for worship at that time.  We understand that it will be difficult for residents to connect with their regular churches during this time, and we welcome you for as long as you wish to be with us.

We are grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to remain in the Drake community while the road construction is being done.  We also look forward to the day when we can rebuild and settle our ministry once again.

If you wish to come up to the Chapel for Saturday service and live east of the road closures, you will have to call someone from the church to arrange a ride or loan of a permission letter.  We are not allowed to make copies of the letters we have received and the letter must be available to show the officer at the roadblock.  While this may seem restrictive, we feel it is generous, and we are grateful for the permission to continue to hold our services in the canyon.

If you are coming from areas west of the fire station in Drake, you will not need any special permits or letters to attend a service with us.  The road closure begins just east of the fire station.

The photo above is what remains of the chapel building.  After the fire, inspectors determined that the entire A-frame of the sanctuary would have to be rebuilt.  That level of reconstruction necessitated bringing the rest of the building up to current code, particularly the current flood plain codes.  When we learned that we would have to raise the entire structure 18 inches above the flood plain, which ran to about two feet high in our sanctuary, we knew that we had to demolish the entire structure and start again.

We are grateful that our needs have been covered by Church Mutual, our insurance company.  They have been good to work with.  We still do not know what kind of building we will be able to put up and when, but we are trusting the Lord and His timing.

A further complication for us is the repair of Hwy 34 from Loveland to Estes Park.  Beginning in October, the road will only be open to residents and business owners, and then only for certain hours.  These hours do not include a Sunday morning worship time, and many of our members are not residents of the canyon.  The decisions on who will be allowed to travel the highway have not been finalized yet, so we are hoping to be able to meet in Drake on Saturday or Sunday evenings for worship.

Currently, and for the foreseeable future, we meet at the BTCA building, next to the fire station in Drake.  It is adequate for our needs and the folks have been easy to work with.  We are grateful to continue to have a place in the community.

Through all of this we are continually reminded that the Chapel is not a building.  The Chapel is a family of people who worship the Lord together in Drake.  We are also very aware that the Lord has protected us through the flood and through the fire.  Now we are trusting Him for the future.

We invite you to pray with us that the Light of Jesus will continue to shine in the Drake community through the ministry of the Chapel.  God knows His plan and His timing.  Pray that we will be patient to trust Him.

You are also welcome to join in worship with us at the BTCA building at 10 AM on Sundays as long as we are able to meet there.

When and if the situation changes, we will post new information here.

Some photos of the demolition:

http://media.reporterherald.com/2016/07/13/photos-chapel-demolition-in-drake/#1