church spires

 

While the red tiles roofs of Old Town Dubrovnik get all the press, I found rendering some of the church spires in monotone to be interesting.

 

Dubrovnik, Croatia

10.25.2017

las trampas

 

The High Road (NM 76) to Taos is dotted with historic villages.  Las Trampas has remnants of  the original 18th century village, including the San José de Gracia Church, which is a National Historic Landmark.

 

Las Trampas, New Mexico

9.18.2017

taos pueblo

 



We visited many missions/churches today as we traveled the High Road to Taos.  The church at the Taos Pueblo is one the "must see" sights.

 

Taos, New Mexico

9.18.17

civic improvement?

 

When I photographed this church on the main street of Hale Center in 2013, it had been long abandoned, but still had some dignity.  Some one is repurposing this old building - which is a good thing.  However, I question their color choices for a civic improvement project (and those aren't even Hale Center Owl colors!)

 

Hale Center, Texas

11-17-13 and 1-2-16



 

stained glass

 

 

 

Lovely Lane Chapel is the oldest standing church on St. Simon Island.  The original Lovely Lane Chapel was erected in Baltimore in 1774.  The St. Simon chapel at Epworth by the Sea, part of the Methodist Conference Retreat. Epworth By The Sea is named in honor of the boyhood home of John and Charles Wesley, founders of Methodism. John Wesley arrive in St. Simon in 1735 to be in charge of the religious affairs of the colony.

 

St. Simon Island, Georgia

4.23.2016

for they shall obtain mercy

 

Christ Church on St. Simon Island is Georgia's second oldest Episcopal parish.  The dilapidated 1820 church was rebuilt in 1884 and is still an active congregation.  Both Charles and James Wesley preached on the island.

 

Christ Church

St. Simon Island, Georgia

4.21.2016

I'm a sucker for a good sign.  Driving east on FM 2641 today, I spotted small new signs for the Friendship Holy Baptist Church.  So I turned and, sure enough, there at 3213 N CR 2750 there was a small brick church I had never noticed before.  A little further down the road was this sign, so naturally I had to follow the arrow to heaven.  Here's what I found at the end of gravel CR 2775:



gospel church

 

The Spring Street Gospel Church was constructed in 1892, originally served a German Methodist Episcopal congregation. The vernacular one-story raised L-plan building features Gothic Revival detailing in its lancet windows and spire. Of the four oldest church buildings in Mason, this is the only one not of red sandstone construction.  The church is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.  There may be power in the gospel, but the power lines outside are a photographer's bane.

 

Spring Street Gospel Church

Spring Street

Mason, Texas

1.24.2016



chapel of the transfiguration

Framed by the Grand Tetons, the Chapel of the Transfiguration is a functioning Episcopal church with seasonal services.  The tiny chapel was built in 1925 on land donated by Maud Noble and was constructed so that the early settlers would not have to make the long buckboard ride into Jackson for Sunday services.

Grand Teton National Park
Moose Junction, Wyoming
9.14.2015

 church sign 

Circleback, at the junction of Farm roads 298 and 3397, is another candidate for a Texas ghost town.  It was named for a nearby ranch whose brand was a circle on the backs of cattle. From 1918 to the mid-1950s there was a six-grade school and about a dozen houses, a filling station, and a store-post office, which burned in 1954. In 1949 the community had 100 people. By 1980 the population had dwindled to forty-nine, and it is reported that by the mid-1980s only the Baptist minister and his wife and two children remained. The Circleback Baptist Church is still conducting services, although all the other buildings are abandoned.   I was curious to learn more and a google search showed many funerals taking place at the church.  Then I discovered that issues of the "Littlefield News: Lamb County Leader" newspaper were archived online at the Texas Tech Southwest Collection.  I lost part of my afternoon reading news items from times past.  Of interest was this from the August 30, 1923 edition: "A large number of Baileyboro folks attended the all day singing at Circleback Sunday. A sumptious dinner was spread and heartily enjoyed. The Richland, N. Mexico singing class furnished the music Sunday afternoon. Everybody agrees that Richland people know how and what to sing." No matter the size of the villages or the distance in-between, people made their own good times.

Circleback, Texas
Bailey County, Texas
8.29.2015

flowers in the window

 

 St. John Methodist Episcopal Church

 Johnson Mesa, New Mexico

8.13.2013

Macedonia Baptist

 

Unlike many of its rural counterparts, the Macedonia Baptist Church is an active congregation.  The white-painted structure glistens in the light and is visible from the nearby highway.  The interior is modest and white curtains with purple ties adorn the windows.

 

Macedonia Baptist Church

Anton, Texas

4.18.2015

 



 

picket fence at the church

 

In 1940 Spade, Texas has two churches.  Today both the First Baptist and Church of Christ are closed and overgrown with weeds.  Spade is a "census-designated place" with fewer than 100 residents.  The Spade Ranch had its headquarters nearby, thus the name.

 

Spade, Texas

Lamb County



the light on the cross

 

On the corner is 8th and Beech is yet another abandoned church building.  The congregation of The Pentecostal Church moved south a few blocks to newer digs.  Peeling paint, faded letters, boarded windows-- wonder if the spirit moved too?

 

The former Pentecostal Church

8th and Beech

Plainview, Texas

2.1.2015

little white church

 

"Little white church" is a generic term but also the loving nickname of this church in Post. It was built in the early 1900's as a Presbyterian church and to date has served many purposes.  It serves as meeting place for the Post Art Guild on the second Tuesdays of the month and otherwise may be rented for special events.

 

Little White Church

10th and Avenue K

Post, Texas

7.5.2014

sign of the cross

 

 

I surmise that the Primera Iglesia Baptista recently "moved" up into a building vacated by another congregation that also moved up.  Evidently the budget did not allow to replace the sign.

 

Primera Iglesia Baptista

Hall Avenue and 14th Street

Littlefield, Texas

gospel express

 

In mid-January, the Gospel Express City is adorned with garland but not necessarily left over from Christmas.  I've noticed the place wears the green stuff year-round; the red bows may be the Yule touch.  Public records list this address as a "single family dwelling" which got me to thinking about churches.  The Parkway-Cherry Point Neighborhood Association, lists 35 churches, including Gospel Express, on its webpage. That seems a lot in an area bounded by Idalou Highway, Loop 289, East Broadway and Yellowhouse Canyon Lake. That got me thinking about establishing a church and I found a website  "How to Start a Non-denominational Church" which outlines the process in 12 easy steps.  12 steps....which got me thinking....

 

Gospel Express City

3307 Idalou Road

Lubbock, Texas

1.10.2014

 

 

red steeple

 

The east side of Slaton must be a God-fearing neighborhood.  I counted six churches within about a seven-block radius. The Triumph Missionary Baptist Church was established in 1929 and rebuilt in 1951. Other churches included the Mt. Olive Baptist Church, the Ivory Street Church of Christ and the First Church of God in Christ.  I assumed that the building with three crosses and the one with the short steeple were also churches but there were no signs; however I really didn't need a yellow sign to identify them.

 

Triumph Missionary Baptist Church

905 S. Johnson

Slaton, Texas

 

 

 

 

 

There are more buildings closed and boarded up than are open for business in Hale Center -- a sad sign of the times for small West Texas towns.  What first caught my eye on this former church were the gothic windows --slender, pointed arches on a stucco building.  Then I noticed the small window on the upper level -- too narrow for a second story and no steeple to access.  If eyes are the windows to the soul, then these church windows, boarded and blank, reflect no soul within.

 

900 Main Street

Hale Center, Texas

11.15.2013

melrose baptist church

 

Many folks stop to photograph the abandoned Presbyterian Church in Taiban, but how many stop in Melrose, just 20 miles up the US 84, to shoot the First Baptist Church?  Not many, I dare say.  The original church structure was built in 1906 -- two years earlier than Taiban's.  This congregation  of over 100 years must have built a firmer foundation as well as a brick church in later years. 

 

 

taiban

 

 Melrose Baptist Church

Melrose, New Mexico

9.26.2010