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CONTENTS
VALUES At St. John’s we are committed to the following core values: Caring—for others
Although an Episcopal Church was established in Kremmling between the years 1911-1917, and its members succeeded in erecting a building (now the Community Church), it ultimately failed to thrive. The first Episcopal Church in eastern Grand County had to wait for the 1950s. In 1957 Frank Norton, owner of the Norton Marina on Lake Granby, mentioned to a visiting Episcopal priest that he had not had communion in a long time. The priest offered to celebrate Holy Eucharist there at the marina, and the first Episcopal service was held in the Marina bar. Twenty-two persons were present. There is no record of whether worshipers retired to the bar for “coffee hour,” but it is part of St. John’s lore that our first service was held in a bar! Perhaps under the inspiration of this service, a number of women gathered to form a chapter of the Guild of St. Teresa—despite not having a church to host it. From this guild grew a habit of weekly Evening Prayer, offered in a pre-fab building donated by Mrs. George Rippey. Eventually the men became involved to fix up and furnish the facility, which was dedicated as the Chapel of St. John the Baptist on Easter Sunday 1959. In June 1960 the Rev. A.D. Cole became the first Episcopal priest of Grand County, serving both St. John’s and a reconstituted Trinity Church in Kremmling. Under his leadership, funds were raised to purchase property for a proper church building, which was dedicated by Bishop Minnis in 1962. A notable period in the church history is the long service of the Rev. Chappell “Chap” Cranmer, who served St. John’s and Trinity Church from 1969 until his retirement in 1985. During this time, St. Columba’s in Winter Park was established as a chapel of St. John’s, offering Saturday evening services. Chap continued to hold services at St. Columba’s until his death in 2000. The chapel was then renamed Cranmer Memorial Chapel. His widow, Betty, a partner in ministry, continues to play an active role in the life of St. John’s. The mission of St. John’s achieved parish status in 1998 under the Rev. Kelsey Hogue. For many years St. John’s shared its church building with the Roman Catholics, until their own church was built around the year 2000. The current rector of St. John’s is the Rev. Spencer Carr, who was called in 2001. Between the rectorships of Fr. Kelsey and Fr. Spencer, the lay leadership of St. John’s with the assistance of Deacon Sally Hicks planned and raised the funds for a major expansion of facilities. The expansion tripled the size of the building, and provided for a beautiful new sanctuary, sacristy, vesting room, offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, expanded kitchen, and nursery. The sanctuary is furnished with altar, font, lectern, and several other fine pieces by the artist Tim Hinz. The former sanctuary is now a parish hall. A playground was added in 2004. St. John’s remains a healthy and vibrant congregation, poised to move into the future with joy and faithfulness.* *This account is drawn from “The Episcopal Church in Grand County,” in The Grand County Historical Association Journal, Vol. XV, April 2000. The primary research was done by the late Betty Jo Woods.
SERVICES AT CRANMER MEMORIAL CHAPEL
St. John's has offered a Saturday evening service in Winter Park for many years. This service caters to tourists and week-end visitors, as well as to those who must work on Sundays or locals who wish to keep Sunday mornings open for recreation. Currently the Saturday service is offered at Cranmer Memorial Chapel at 5PM. Services of Easter Vigil (Easter Eve) and Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols are also offered. Music is not a part of services at Cranmer. Occasionally, in the absence of a priest, Evening Prayer is led by a layperson. Cranmer Chapel is located at 75 Hi Country Road in Winter Park. The easiest way to find it is to look for the town's only movie theater, turn at that corner, and look for a small cabin with a cross at the back of the parking lot of the shopping center. No office is maintained at the chapel; for information call the St. John's number: 887-2742.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CRANMER MEMORIAL CHAPEL It was in 1981 that a developer who no longer needed a small cabin used to house workers donated the building the Diocese of Colorado to be used as a house of worship. This was during the service of the Rev'd Chappell Cranmer, who had just visited the small island of Iona off the coast Scotland. Iona had been the base for St. Columba, the Irishman who evangelized Scotland in the 6th century. It was Fr. Cranmer who suggested the chapel be named for St. Columba, and it was consecrated with that name.
After Fr. Cranmer's death in the year 2000, the congregation honored his long service in East Grand County by renaming the chapel Cranmer Memorial Chapel. The wall of the chapel features photos from Chap's life, including pictures from the ill-fated expedition he joined to climb K2 in 1939 and pictures with his wife Betty. Betty Cranmer is still an active and vital part of life at St. John's. In addition to the regular Saturday evening services, Cranmer Chapel has over the years been used as a temporary home for other churches, Bible studies, and AA meetings. For many years, it has been the site of the "Cranmer dinners," free dinners offered every other week during ski season, for workers at the ski slope and others needing warm meals. This project, originally centered in St. John's, has grown under the leadership of Joan Von der Heiden to include a wide participation of many other churches and community organizations. Well over 10,000 Cranmer dinners have been served, and meals are now also provided to elderly shut-ins. More recently, an "Anglican High Tea" has been offered each August at the chapel during the week-end of the Winter Park Art Fair as a fundraiser for the chapel and St. John's.
In the Episcopal Church, oversight of administration and financial operations of the church is in the hands of a committee called the Vestry. It consists of the priest, Senior Warden, Junior Warden, and four other lay members. The current vestry consists of the following members (with areas of oversight): Fr. Spencer (Worship) Non-voting member: Walter McLaughlin, Clerk of Vestry |
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