A church in Sedalia that is older than the state of Colorado has a special place in the hearts of the few dozen people who worship there.
So much so that when grant money from the State Historical Fund didn’t arrive to help finish vital improvements to the 145-year-old St. Philip-in-the-Field Episcopal church, parishioners and community members stepped up and volunteered their time, money and expertise to get the job done.
“Our grant was actually approved, but there was no money to fund it, so we proceeded on our own,” said Janet Fullmer, who has been vicar of St. Philip-in-the-Field for three years. “But the thing that was really good about the way this worked out — even though we had to pick up the ball financially — is that it was done with an awful lot of physical, hands-on work from volunteers. It had a very old-fashioned feeling of people coming together in good spirits and lending a hand.”
The white church at 397 S. Perry Park Road sits on top of a hill in the center of the historic Bear Canon Cemetery. There, six or more generations of St. Philip-in-the-Field communicants are buried in front of a range of blue mountains.
But the little church, built in the spring of 1872 by pioneers and early settlers of Douglas County, had gone decades without significant attention or structural updates. An initial round of renovations began about 16 years ago.
“In 2001, the parish did this huge renovation to install a brand new foundation under the building, replace all the siding and put a new roof on,” Fullmer said. “But there were a lot of repairs that still had to be done after that.”
The parish received a grant of about $180,000 from the State Historical Fund to complete the structural work, but the church still needed new windows, paint, interior wood treatment and restoration, as well as electrical upgrades.
“We didn’t get the grant to help out this time, so we hired a contractor, and we paid them about $33,000,” said Sedalia resident and church member Cory Peters. “We all had to dig into some of our savings to pay for it, but we felt like we had to get the project finished.”
Peters helped organize more than 20 parishioners to go to St. Philip-in-the-Field five or six days a week to help finish the remaining work. He used his extensive construction background to lead the team in painting the church’s exterior, realigning its pews, busting out the concrete in front of the building and oiling the interior woodwork.
“The interior hadn’t been oiled in about 30 years,” he said. “We were really running into a situation where the building wasn’t in good repair, and we had to jump in now to get it done.”
Community members volunteered more than 800 hours since August to finish the work, which wrapped up in early November.
“One member named Al Colton did a tremendous amount of really fine carpentry work, and we had another member who was able to do all of the electrical work,” Fullmer said. “Some of the really high work that required ladders were reserved for just a few people, but the rest of us painted, sanded and oiled everything from the ground to as high as we could reach.”
About 55 people regularly attend mass, and about 125 families are members of the church. But the entire community is always ready to help, even when St. Philip-in-the-Field doesn’t need emergency repairs.
Mildred Stewart, 92, is a longtime member of the parish who has been volunteering to clean the church once a week since before she can remember.
“I grew up in this church,” Stewart said. “My mother and my aunt were on the altar guild back when it existed, and so they were responsible for setting things up and keeping it clean. In fact, we kept all of that stuff at our house. Now, I just do it. I’ve always done it.”
She said everyone does his or her part to keep the church is good condition — It’s part of the community culture.
“Most of the people who come to the church have made a decision that they’re going to come to a small, rural, historic church,” Fullmer said. “Some people, like Mildred, have generations of roots, but some people are just choosing it for themselves.
“Because of that, there is a personal bond that gets formed, and people grow a personal interest in the church itself,” she said. “So, when there’s something needing done, people step up. That’s across the board, for big and small things.”
A few days before a recent Sunday mass, St. Philip-in-the-Field parishioners Susan and Tom Miles pulled up to the church and entered though the back door. They were stopping by to change out the backdrop before the upcoming mass celebration.
“We started coming here in the spring of 2012 and have been helping out with different things here and there ever since,” Tom Miles said. “It’s a beautiful, special place … and I think the community is compelled to be involved in its care.”
Fulmer said she’s planning to hold an open house to show off the completed church and share its history with anyone interested in listening. The date of the open house will be posted on the church website.
“I’m ecstatic that we’re done,” Peters said. “We’re hoping to have the building around for the next 145 years, and I’m hoping that we left it good shape for the next couple generations to do that.”
