The Boulder United Methodist Church is preparing for a potential sale of its fellowship hall — and some of its original pews could be the first things to go.
Shortly after moving into the Boulder United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, the Boulder Nature Story Montessori School offered to purchase the building, a school employee told The Monitor. The school opened in January and offers full-time child care, five days a week, to 13 to 15 children between 3 months and 4 years old.
According to church trustee and longtime member Gary Craft, negotiations with the school have gone back and forth. Craft also explained that before the sale can take place, the church must prepare a resolution for the congregation to vote on.
If the resolution passes, the Board of Trustees for the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church – which is responsible for all church property – must review it and make a final decision.
Although Craft said a sale of the hall is not yet concrete, the sale of the pews will free up space in the worship hall.
Val Colenso, pastor of the United Methodist Churches in both Boulder and Clancy, said that were the church to sell the fellowship hall it would need to find room elsewhere for bathrooms, studying and meetings. While an expansion to the church would be ideal, she said, that could take some time.
In the meantime, Colenso said the church plans to use a pull-down separator to section off a space at the back of the church for meetings — “but not if it’s filled with pews.”
The pews in question were original to the church, built in 1889 by a Presbyterian congregation according to Heritage Center Volunteer Ellen Thiel. By 1915, the Presbyterian congregation had relocated elsewhere, leaving the property up for purchase by the Methodist church, Thiel said.The church reupholstered the best of the pews 20 years ago, placing the rest in storage. And there they have sat for many years, according to Colenso and Craft. On July 27, church member Connie Grenz posted the pews on Facebook with the “price to be determined.” Grenz also included a free organ in the post. Craft later clarified that the pews are being offered to members of the congregation before selling any left over to the general public.
While the church is ready to part with the pews, former and current church attendees reminisced on the memories they had made sitting in those very pews.
Claydee Martin, who attended the Methodist church while living in Boulder, said her “gram” told her that families who helped settle the Boulder Valley donated and raised money for the purchase of the pews. Martin said her father, aunt and uncles had also told her stories about the pews’ arrival by train and placement in the church.
“These pews have held my family and myself through grief, joy, celebration and so much more,” Martin said in a July 31 post on the Boulder, Montana (Past and Present) Facebook page. “It is startling to see a part of family history changing destinations after being a constant for so many years.”
Dozens of current and former Methodist church goers joined in the comments, sharing memories and expressing curiosity for the pews’ next destination.
Added Rocky Hampton: “So sad to see a piece of history gotten rid of.”
