1985 - 1988

The Humble Beginnings
The early history of Winter Park Christian Center (dba Winter Park Christian Church)

In the summer of 1983, several people from Living Word Christian Fellowship (LWCF) in Grand Lake laid hands on a certain building in Fraser, after praying for two years that God would allow them to use it as a church. At the same time, the owner of the building who, unbeknownst to LWCF people, had recently become a Christian, was in Israel, trying to chase down God, and praying that He would use something he had. And so it happened that Don McDavid gave permission to use his former ski shop (later the Alpine Physical Therapy building) as a church.

On the Sunday before Don headed for a Bible school, LWCF started church services in Fraser. In the mornings LWCF had a service in Grand Lake, and in the evenings they came to this end of the valley to hold a meeting.

Of the first regular members, the Newberrys and the Tompkins are still here. Many families from LWCF came to support the work here for a while. In time, other people joined, like the Fells. Some others like Fred and Elizabeth Menard, "Big John" Brunton and his family have already moved on. The attendance was 25-40 at the beginning, dwindling down to half a dozen at times.

The church had been in existence for about half a year when George Fell came through the area. He knew he wanted to live here and says that God brought them here. As he was scouting the land, he visited churches, and one time when he picked up the telephone directory, he saw an ad for LWCF. "I liked LWCF. Even when I saw their ad, I thought 'that must be a good charismatic church.' I just liked their ad. It must have had a dove or something." George went to Grand Lake in the spring of '84, and when his family moved here, they started attending the new outreach church.

George and Sandy became faithful members and givers. When the church moved to the log cabin in Winter Park in 1985, Sandy started teaching Sunday School. That's where Cindy Newberry spent her Sunday services as well. She says, "It was cold and crowded. Sunday School seems to have always been short of space."

When J.R. Polhemus, the pastor of LWCF, moved away, the new church in Winter Park struggled. Attendance dropped to 12-25, and it was difficult to find a good pastor. There had been a few people, especially in LWCF, who had prayed for this end of the valley, and several from the new outreach church got together twice a week to pray for God to move in this area.

The beginning was a struggle to George and Sandy as well but they never felt released to go. There were times they can laugh at now but weren't funny at the time. Sandy comments to George, "If anything funny happened, you were at the root of it."

It was hard to build relationships and then see people leave. It was hurtful. First J.R., then Steve and Shar Hardy who pastored the church for a few years, and then the Bickles. Sandy recalls that one year alone, 16 Christian families from different churches left the valley. George didn't think the church would survive when the Hardys left in 1988. The group was too small to support a pastor.

"It was the biggest step of faith for us," Cindy remembers. "We really had to pray and come before the Lord to find out what He wanted us to do." To dissolve, or each find another church family, or to continue? "I remember asking God, 'Why are you doing this to us?'" Cindy says.

One Sunday, after church, some of the members met and realized they needed to make a decision. They contacted a few churches in Denver to see if they could be affiliated with one of them. In the fall that year, Redeemer Temple sent Doug Toller to pastor the flock of six. And in six months, the Church was able to support the pastor and his family!

Winter Park Christian Center, which adopted the name in 1987 when Steve Hardy was the pastor, has grown spiritually and in numbers. There used to be more get-togethers because the church was smaller, but now there are more activities and there is better fellowship for youth. The church is reaching more people.

"Third winter," George starts. He can not easily continue but manages to say from the tears welling up in his eyes, "Valley people." Sandy seems to understand right away and nods. "Only three or four winters ago people from the valley started coming." George wipes his eyes. "My understanding is that the church always meant to minister to the valley but for years the only new people who came were Christians from other churches, or Christians who moved into the valley."

1988 - 1998

Celebrating Ten Years with The Tollers -- October 1998 -- by Blair Kilgallen

This month we are celebrating with Pastor Doug, Marti and their family the ten wonderful years they have been with us at Winter Park Christian Center. They recently shared some memories and perspectives of their ministry.

How it all began . . . Like many of us who moved to the Grand County, the Tollers had been vacationing here in the summer of 1988. While enjoying the mountains, and with a pastor's heart, they prayed for the churches in the area. Little known to them, one of those churches located in the valley was Winter Park Christian Center and World Outreach pastored by Steve Hardy.

The Tollers returned to Denver where Doug was serving as a pastor for a satellite church of Redeemer Temple. The Lord had been speaking to them about a change of direction when shortly thereafter they were approached by WPCC regarding the need for a pastor to replace Hardy who had moved out of the valley. Since Redeemer had a history of sending pastors out to surrounding ministries, Doug and Marti were sent to WPCC even though questioning whether a resort town was really where God wanted them.

October 1, 1988 . . . The Tollers arrived by wagon train over Berthoud Pass to a burgeoning church of four families! The pastor's first sermon came from Joshua 14 which he still refers to when speaking of the heart God has given him for the valley. The word that day was there were spiritual gods in the valley, but that the Lord would go before them removing the strongholds of individualism, seclusionism, and occultism. His prayer was that God would give the church a heart of Caleb. As that seed continues to be sown we are seeing a great harvest in the county.

As the church has grown from the early days to 1998, The Tollers have recognized significant changes in the body such as the interaction and love of the people and ministry of service to one another. A growing leadership base has continued to contribute to an enlarged ministry. There is also a visible unity of pastors in the valley. And, one of the greatest blessings is in seeing people who have lived here for years giving their lives to Christ.

The Tollers attribute the growth of the church to ten years of dedicated intercessory prayer, love for one another, and a commitment to a serious walk in Christ by the body.

Our pastor's heart for the church is that our first priority would be to make it our goal to please the Lord (II Corinthians 5.9), grow up in Him, and become disciples who fit in the slot of service for which God has designed us. For the unsaved, Pastor Doug's desire is that Matthew 5:16 would come true in our lives: In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Highlights of their time here: The tremendous servant's attitude of WPCC. "We are blessed to be a part of this body. They have encouraged and supported us all of the ten years. If I wasn't the pastor, I'd come to the church!" Then there is the unforgettable Xtreme games. Did you see the incredible physical feats of Marti and Doug as they helped their team in the Rocky Mountain Rope Quest?

In looking ahead to the future of WPCC their prayer is that we would maintain integrity being guarded 0from anything that would that would bring shame to the Lord's name.

Doug & Marti express that it is an honor to serve the church. They are looking forward to how God unfolds his plans day by day. Doug recalls when the elders at Redeemer Temple asked him in 1988 how long they expected to be here and he said for life. They intend to grow up and old together with the people at WPCC.

As I reflect on the years of our ministry with them, I am overwhelmed with the tremendous blessing of God we have in Doug & Marti. I'm sure you are, too.

How did we end up on this piece of land?

Winter Park Christian Center was growing, and it became very obvious that we needed a bigger place. We started looking for a building we could buy, and when nothing was available, we decided to look for a piece of land to purchase.

It was 1997, and the two pieces of property we had looked at, had not worked out. Pastor Doug Toller announced one Sunday that the second land deal had just fallen through. It was a letdown, as the location had been just right. But we trusted that God would have something else for us.

That very Sunday, Harry and Maxine Ward of our congregation, went to have lunch at Fontenots Restaurant after the church service. Harry sat down next to a couple reading a local newspaper. Not typical of Harry, he leaned over to the man and said, "Hey, there's a mule in that paper for sale." Harry was trying to sell his mule.

The man looked at Harry and replied, "Yes, there is a mule for sale and it says it's for sale by Harry Ward." And the gentleman continues, "I've been wanting to meet Harry Ward."

"I am Harry Ward." They got into a conversation and Harry asked for the man's name.

"I'm Bob Yaklich and I am developing Pole Creek Meadows there."

Harry said, "You're a developer. Our pastor just announced this morning that a contract fell through on some land we were looking at. If you have five acres anywhere around here that our church could purchase, let me know."

"I think I've got something you might be interested in."

The two couples drove from the restaurant to a piece of property just past Tabernash. Bob said, "I've got 35 acres here. You know, my wife and I built this house up here and many times we've stood out on this deck and looked across that land and said that would be an excellent place for a church." Harry asked how much he would want for the 35 acres, to which Bob said, "I'll sell it to you for $108,000." Harry called the pastor to come over.

We bought the land. It cost $10,000 less than the 11 acres across the road that we couldn't get.

Edited from Pastor Doug Toller's sermon at WPCC