The history of Christ Church continues

Hanna Gross
NLJ Correspondent
With Leonard Cash
 
Local historian Leonard Cash continues with his records of Newcastle’s oldest church, Christ Episcopal Church, by going through the many ministers the church has seen, along with additional information about the church’s roots.
 
Leonard Cash’s booklet “History of Christ Church” explained that during the mid-1960s, church attendance remained strong and steady despite the fact that Newcastle was losing people, and the booklet says that part of the reason was due to the creativity of the Rev. Tim Solon. However, during the late ’60s to early ’70s (shortly after Solon left in 1967), attendance numbers declined. The booklet attributes this to the change in churches. It says that all churches were changing, not just the Episcopal church, in their style of worship,
people’s attitude towards religion and the shift in family lifestyles. These changes played a part in bringing down church attendance, according to the booklet.
“The effects of all this were felt at Christ Church where the loss of one member is felt and hurts the whole body. The loss of several members causes feelings of discouragement, despair and forebodings of doom to settle in. Three rather short term ministries added to the ‘what’s wrong with us?’ feelings,” the booklet says. 
Cash said he believes the reason for low church attendance had to do with the effects of the Korean War and World War II. Many women started looking for jobs and went to work during these times, so they weren’t at home as much, according to Cash.
“The Second World War really changed the world,” Cash said. 
The three short-term ministries the booklet referred to were those of the Revs. Lee Schlothauer, James More and Ware King, who followed the ministry of Solon. Combined, these three ministers were in Newcastle from 1967 to 1975. 
The News Letter Journal of Nov. 23, 1967, reported that the arrival of Schlothauer and his wife, Connie, with their two daughters, Laura Ann and Karen Annette, was expected on the first of the year. They came from Powell, although Schlothauer was originally from St. Louis, Missouri, as reported in news articles from Jan. 4, 1968. He was an educated man, having received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia, with emphasis in sociology and psychology. He graduated from Seminary of the Southwest (an Episcopal seminary in Texas) in 1959 and served in the U.S. Air Force for two years.
Schlothauer’s ministry in Newcastle lasted a mere two years because the Oct. 16, 1969, News Letter reported his resignation from the Newcastle church. He conducted his last sermon on Nov. 9 and then went to Dillon, Mont.
Newcastle had no minister for the rest of the year, so the church had to improvise. 
“Services for the remainder of 1969 were conducted by our lay readers,” the booklet says. 
Newcastle’s new minister, the Rev. James More, arrived from Wheatland, Wyoming, and held his first service on Jan. 25, 1970, according to the booklet. During his time in Newcastle, the “church school” met on Wednesday afternoons, but due to lack of interest, the staff felt disheartened and the program was discarded in 1971.
Soon after he came, More moved to Sedona, Arizona, for a part-time ministry opportunity and conducted his last service in Newcastle on Aug. 27, 1972. According to an Aug. 17, 1972, news article, he was going to work with a “share ministry,” specifically working with children, but because the program wasn’t quite up and running, More was to work at an insurance firm (which he’d done prior to joining the ministry) until then. 
The third minister since Solon, the Rev. Ware King, arrived in Newcastle, according to the Dec. 28, 1972, News Letter, and he was to assume his new duties on Jan.1, giving his first sermon on Jan. 7. Newcastle had been without an Episcopal minister since September, but King brought with him approximately 30 years of experience. He and his wife, Betty, had four grown children, one of whom was married with the other three at college. 
According to the booklet, More was to hold his last service on July 27, 1975, because he was resigning and moving to Laramie so that he could work full time on the book he was writing. 
Throughout 1975 and 1976, the Rev. Richard Hayes came to preach in Newcastle, and even though the town didn’t have an official minister for the Episcopal church, things were starting to look hopeful as far as attitude towards church, according to the booklet. 
“Attitudes began to change. The people became more hopeful—they developed a stronger belief in what they could do — and more determination to do it,” the booklet says. 
In August 1975, a new vacation church school was developed as a program for children in the community, and it was called “The Carpenter’s Workshop.” 
“For one week, 35 children (study) the Life of Christ by living in the imaginary village of Palestine created at the Parish Hall,” the booklet says. The children really enjoyed it, and the program was so successful that a similar event (an Advent series) was held at Christmas. 
The July 29, 1976, News Letter reported that the Rev. Colin Campbell, the last minister recorded in the booklet, was expected to arrive in Newcastle with his family on August, 20. He was from Los Angeles and had ministry experience out of the country, serving churches in Canada and New Zealand, as well as being a military chaplain in both of those countries. He and his wife, Wendy, had two children, Gavin and Victoria. 
The church hit its 90th anniversary in 1981, and this milestone event was to be celebrated on the weekend of Jan. 17-18, according to news reports from Jan. 15, 1981. The article briefly summarized the church’s history, and to celebrate the near-century history of the church, a “carry-in supper” was to be held at the parish hall (also known as Haydis Hall) on Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. 
The Rt. Rev. Bob G. Jones, bishop of Wyoming, was to be present, as well as the “Saints and Sinners,” a singing group from the All Saints’ Church in Torrington. The group planned on preforming a musical version of “The Life of Christ.” They were to perform again on Sunday, with a service of dedication, confirmation and Eucharist to be held as well at 10 a.m. A reception was to follow at the parish hall, and the church welcomed the community to join in the celebration and festivities. 
As we come to a near close on the history of Newcastle’s oldest church, Cash wanted to mention that a lot of the records regarding this subject have been lost and destroyed, mainly due to a water leakage in Laramie, where some of the records were kept. 
 
The story continues in next week’s edition of the News Letter Journal.