We may actually be building soon! The engineering process is complete, and the next step is getting a permit to begin building. Please pray with us that all of this can be done smoothly.

Obviously, after nine years of waiting for approval and action, our financial resources have less value than they did. We are trusting the Lord to help us through that as well. More than that, we are excited to see what He does.

We have grown in our faith, and we have welcomed good new friends. Life in the Chapel family has been moving slowly, but we are becoming excited to look forward. Again, please pray with us.

In the coming weeks, we will share progress on the building and opportunities for donations and more. I have felt strongly that we should not raise money for the project until we have a permit and can move on building. That time will be here very soon.

• Pastor Dave

Jeff informed us this past Sunday that our completed application has been sent to the various offices of the county. It is our prayer that a building permit will be issued soon, perhaps by the end of the month.

Keep watching here, and please keep praying!

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!