{"id":8620,"date":"2015-10-07T07:34:49","date_gmt":"2015-10-07T13:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=8620"},"modified":"2015-10-07T13:02:58","modified_gmt":"2015-10-07T19:02:58","slug":"familys-devotion-to-rarely-used-church-spans-a-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2015\/10\/familys-devotion-to-rarely-used-church-spans-a-century\/","title":{"rendered":"Family&#8217;s devotion to rarely used church spans a century"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"slides-8620\" class=\"navis-slideshow\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"slide-nav\">\n\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"prev\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"next\"><\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"slides_container\"><div id=\"8620-slide1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Supper-1-of-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Supper-1-of-1-771x514.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>The beautifully restored altar of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church near Broadview features this depiction of the Last Supper. Click on the arrow at top right for more photos.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Main-1-of-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Main-1-of-1-771x514.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Land for the church was donated more than 100 years ago by ancestors of Karen Schott, left, and Jean Downey.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide3\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Outhouse-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Outhouse-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A view of the church from behind, with the old outhouse in the foreground.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide4\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-1st-service-1-of-1-771x549.jpg*771*549\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-1st-service-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6> <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>After the first Mass in 1913, parishioners gathered outside the new church for a photograph.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide5\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-100th-1-of-1-771x496.jpg*771*496\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-100th-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6> <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>At the centennial Mass in 2013, parishioners replicated the photo of 1913.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide6\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Interior-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Interior-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>The interior of the church has been beautifully preserved.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Choir-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Choir-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A view from the choir.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide8\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Negatives-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Negatives-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Karen Schott holds up negatives of the first Mass celebrated in the church.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide9\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Pew-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Pew-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>The wooden pews are still in excellent condition.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide10\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Supper-detail-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Supper-detail-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A detail of the Last Supper, as seen on the altar.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide11\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Long-shot-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Long-shot-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A view of the church from the parish cemetery, just down the road.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide12\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Cables-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Cables-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Eye hooks and steel cables reinforce the church's roof.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide13\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-New-organ-1-of-1-771x597.jpg*771*597\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-New-organ-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A pump organ was donated to the church about the time of the centennial in 2013.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide14\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Old-organ-1-of-1-771x535.jpg*771*535\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Old-organ-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>This is the church's original organ.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide15\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Old-organ-detail-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Old-organ-detail-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A detail of the original organ.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide16\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Curtain-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Curtain-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Curtain rings over the confessional.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide17\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Mary-2-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Mary-2-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A statue of the Virgin stands near the stairs to the choir.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"8620-slide18\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Mary-ascends-1-of-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Mary-ascends-1-of-1-771x514.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A painting of the Assumption adorns a wall behind the altar.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><script>jQuery( document ).ready( function() { loadSlideshow( 8620, 'https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2015\/10\/familys-devotion-to-rarely-used-church-spans-a-century\/', 18 ) } );<\/script>\n<p>On the high plains of Eastern Montana, abandoned churches are nearly as plentiful as abandoned schoolhouses.<\/p>\n<p>From a distance, the little white church sitting on a rise nine miles west and a little south of Broadview looks as if it might be one of those forlorn, forgotten structures.<\/p>\n<p>But step inside and it is immediately clear that this is a church still under someone\u2019s loving care. The ornate altar, with its prominent statue of the Virgin Mary and a front panel featuring a relief sculpture of the Last Supper, is bright and beautifully preserved.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The walls look freshly whitewashed, and the sky-blue panel behind the altar looks freshly painted. The wooden pews are all in good shape, and the restored Stations of the Cross\u2014tableaux depicting the trial, suffering and crucifixion of Christ\u2014 would not look out of place in a cathedral.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s pretty amazing, actually,\u201d Jean Downey said, \u201cnot something you expected out in the middle of absolutely nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Downey lives next door to the church on land homesteaded by her great-great-uncle J.B. \u201cBarney\u201d Gotken. Barney and his wife Georgiana donated three acres of their homestead on which to build the church.<\/p>\n<p>The parish was formed in 1908 or 1909 and parishioners attended Mass in the home of J.J. Barrett in the early years. On July 4, 1913, at a celebration at the Barrett ranch, enough money was raised to begin construction of the church.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"well\"><div class=\"dfad dfad_pos_1 dfad_first\" id=\"_ad_652\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/mjhWkW\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/201703_capeair_variable.jpg\" alt=\"CapreAir_Variable\" width=\"510\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18069\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/div>Parishioners evidently didn\u2019t waste any time, because the first Mass was celebrated at the church\u2014Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church\u2014on Aug. 15, 1913. A photo from that day shows the church was not really complete, with the front of the church and the half-built steeple still shrouded in scaffolding.<\/p>\n<p>The presiding priest was Father Aloysius Mueller, out of Roundup, and he stood in front of a makeshift altar of packing boxes and planks. For pews, there were planks resting on nail kegs.<\/p>\n<p>Downey isn\u2019t sure when the church stopped being used regularly, but she thinks it might have been in the early 1960s. Parish records show that 12 priests served there over the years.<\/p>\n<p>The beginning of the end was in 1931, when St. Theresa\u2019s Catholic Church was moved from the town of Comanche to Broadview. The town church gradually grew more popular than the one out in the country, reached by a succession of gravel roads.<\/p>\n<p>These days, according to Darren Eultgen, chancellor of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Our Lady of the Assumption is not technically a church but a \u201cchapel of occasional worship.\u201d He said there are probably about 20 such chapels in the diocese, some of them as well-maintained as the one near Broadview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople seem to be very dedicated to these little, local places,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8621\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-8621 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-Station-1-of-1.jpg\" alt=\"Cross\" width=\"336\" height=\"504\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first Station of the Cross, as seen in Our Lady of the Assumption Church.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>That has certainly been the case with Downey\u2019s family. She and her cousin Karen Schott, who also lives nearby, showed a visitor around the property on Monday. They came armed with numerous photos, records and artifacts touching on the history of the 102-year-old church.<\/p>\n<p>They told of the big year of 1916, when money from a wheat field half a mile away from the churc, was used to buy pews, the Stations of the Cross and other furnishings. The steeple was finally finished that year, too, and on Nov. 5, 1916, the church was officially dedicated.<\/p>\n<p>All along, the church has been the scene of numerous milestones in the families of Downey and Schott.<\/p>\n<p>Downey\u2019s parents, Glenn Frey and Patricia Stiles, were married in the church on June 22, 1957. There were no more weddings there until July 23, 1976, when Downey\u2019s sister, Kim, married James Janshen. The last wedding there was in 2001, when Padriac Moriarty wed Downey\u2019s sister, Kristin, in 2001.<\/p>\n<p>Downey thinks the last funeral in the church was her grandmother\u2019s, in 1982.<\/p>\n<p>For Downey herself, the church just over the fence has been her own personal refuge, \u201ckind of my serenity.\u201d In the midst of some very difficult times, she said, she would go to Our Lady of the Assumption and let herself in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just sit here, and it\u2019s so peaceful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Family members, occasionally aided by other nearby residents, did basic upkeep on the church through the years. What \u201creally saved this thing,\u201d Schott said, was a new metal roof in 2008. The old roof was destroyed by hail, and family members were surprised and delighted to learn that the diocese, which still owned the church, had insurance on it.<\/p>\n<p>The insurance coverage paid for the roof, which protected all the other work done on the structure. The big push came before the centennial of the church in 2013. The interior was repainted, the Stations of the Cross were refurbished and the altar, its ornamentation made of plaster and horsehair, was cleaned up and restored.<\/p>\n<p>The original organ still sits up near the altar, but another pump organ, from a Catholic church in Lavina, was donated to Our Lady of the Assumption by the Hanser family and sits near the front entrance.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the work was done by family members, but many people from the area helped out, too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo matter if it was a little thing or a big thing, it was all a huge help,\u201d Downey said.<\/p>\n<p>The centennial Mass drew a huge crowd\u2014at least by Our Lady of the Assumption standards\u2014estimated by Downey at 250. After the service, everyone went outside, to the south side of the church, to pose for a photo similar to the one taken on the day of the first Mass in 1913.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8622\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-8622 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Assumption-CrucifixMary-1-of-1.jpg\" alt=\"Mary\" width=\"336\" height=\"504\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A station of the Virgin Mary adorns the top of the altar. (<em>Apparently wrong: See reader&#8217;s note below<\/em>.)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Mass is still celebrated once at year the church, on the Feast of the Assumption in August. In keeping with tradition, a potluck supper is held after the Mass.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis summer, I wasn\u2019t even here, but they had Mass here and a potluck at my home,\u201d Downey said.<\/p>\n<p>The church used to have a stove but is now unheated, and it has no running water or electricity. There is an old outhouse out back, and for events like the centennial Mass, portable toilets are brought in.<\/p>\n<p>Downey and Schott said they would like to have the diocese turn the property back to their family. They could then make the church into a wedding chapel, using all proceeds to fund further improvements to the church.<\/p>\n<p>It needs a new floor and foundation, they said, and shades over the windows to keep the sun off the floors and woodwork. Downey said her mother mentioned the possibility to diocesan officials a few years ago. But \u201cthey just don\u2019t want to let it go,\u201d Downey said.<\/p>\n<p>Schott said she understands. She\u2019s not sure herself what would happen if the property reverted to their family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you do take it out of the church, are Jean\u2019s and my kids going to keep it going?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>Eultgen, the diocesan chancellor, said any such proposal would have to start with the priest who serves the Broadview community, in this case the Rev. Douglas Krings of Roundup, who was not available for comment this week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs it possible?\u201d Eultgen asked. Yes, it\u2019s possible. Is it done very often? No, it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whatever happens with that proposal, Schott and Downey said their families, for the time being, plan to keep the church in good shape.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI always think about what our families had to go through to live here and build this,\u201d Schott said. \u201cThey knew what they needed to do make their community strong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the high plains of Eastern Montana, abandoned churches are nearly as plentiful as abandoned schoolhouses. From a distance, the little white church sitting on a rise nine miles west and a little south of Broadview looks as if it might be one of those forlorn, forgotten structures. But step inside and it is immediately [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,18],"tags":[3200,3204,3205,3202,3203,3201,3206],"class_list":["post-8620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-diversions","tag-broadview","tag-darren-eultgen","tag-diocese-of-great-falls-billings","tag-jean-downey","tag-karen-schott","tag-our-lady-of-the-assumption-catholic-church","tag-rev-douglas-krings","prominence-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}