135 Years And Counting

For 135 years, the St. Barnabas Episcopal Church has stood the test of time becoming the oldest church in the Upper North Platte River Valley. On Sunday, June 23, St. Barnabas celebrated its 135th anniversary.

After Sunday service, members of the church met at the parish hall and learned about its history from local historian Dick Perue. People saw old pictures and learned about the names of the people who helped found the church in 1889. Members of the church and the community visited the Saratoga Museum at 5:00 p.m. to celebrate St. Barnabas' 135th Anniversary with live music and entertainment.

According to Reverend Peggy Hotchkiss, it was a local contractor named Thomas H. Hood who helped build St. Barnabas.

“A group of people from the Platte Valley got together in 1888 to form the church and hired Mr. Hood to be their contractor and to build the church,” Hotchkiss said. “The first service was held on January 10, 1889.”

Hotckiss said before the church was named St. Barnabas, its original name was The Church of The Heavenly Rest. She said there is an interesting story behind both names.

“I do not know if it is true or not, but one of my friends told me the name The Church of The Heavenly Rest was changed because members of the church said it sounded like the name of a funeral home,” Hotckiss said. “I would not be surprised if it was the real reason why the congregation changed its name”.

Hotckiss said she has no answers to why members of the church named the church after St. Barnabas. However, according to Hotkiss, the name Barnabas has a historical religious connection.

“I do not know why they gave it the name,” Hotckiss said. “What I can tell you is Barnabas means son of encouragement. I think Barmabas is the perfect example of the kind of Christian love in sharing the gospel. When Miss Hugus gave the land to the church, I think it was a Barnabas thing to do because Barnabas sold all his personal belongings and gave what he sold to all the apostles in the early church.”

Hotckiss said Barnabas was about sharing what he had, which is why her church and the community set an example of giving and sharing the gospel. She said what she finds interesting throughout St. Barnabas’ 135 year history has priests who have come and gone. Hotckiss said she has been with the church for 35 years and came right after St. Barnabas celebrated its 100th Anniversary.

“This church has had a history of priests who have not stayed very long,” Hotckiss said. “They would have priests and a priest would leave. When I first came here we had a priest and he left. We had a supply clergy and we had another priest who was here another three to four years then he retired. Then we had another group of supply clergy coming to our congregation. Through the years we stayed, kept the church going and we continued to be the beacon of Chirst’s love.”