West Colfax Lately: What's Next from Mountair Christian Church
Welcome to our digital release of the 7th Edition of West Colfax Lately! If you missed it in our prior newsletter, you can see the Cover HERE. We will be releasing the magazine content through this blog up until our print release in early October. Stay tuned for more! And please support our ADVERTISERS. They make our magazine possible!
One might ask, what is a church doing in a publication like this? My answer is my contribution to this article—and I am grateful to be invited to do so.
Mountair Christian Church (MCC) is a business, a non-profit organization dedicated to the spiritual and physical wellbeing of our Two Creeks/Mountair neighborhood and beyond for the past 100 years. We are part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination, but what really defines us is the faithful dedication to our community. Did I mention that we have been in the same area for 100 years? From the humble beginning in a meeting at Mountair High School, to the building of a sanctuary at 1400 Ames St., to the development of the current location at 1390 Benton St., we have been within four blocks of where we started since 1921. That is faithful dedication. In church lingo, steadfast love for a neighborhood.
Through this journey MCC has participated in many community events and activities. Some of our members were involved in the beginning of the Action Center, the annual Thanksgiving dinner that provides more than 500 meals (now in its 38th year), and we have maintained a food and clothing pantry for more than 50 years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 17 ministries and civic entities were using our building. Meals on Wheels (Volunteers of America), Family Leadership Training Institute (CU sponsored effort), PASO (an early childhood education program from Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition), Brown Bag Ministries and Jeffco Eats, all operated out of our space. Community organizations, like the Two Creeks Neighborhood Organization (TCNO), and several other homeowners’ associations have used our space. We can’t forget Zumba! In addition, we have a room for police with 24 hours a day access. All these are free of charge or for voluntary contributions.
Volunteers prepared a thanksgiving meal for members of the community at Mountair Church. Photo: Ruben Rodriguez
Churches used to be at the center of community life, and we continue to think of ourselves as a vital element of the community. We are making progress in recovering from the pandemic and reopening to full capacity. The congregation has been meeting online and in a hybrid format through the pandemic, overcoming the technology phobia and maintaining this vital connection that feeds the soul. Our volunteers have worked through the pandemic with all the precautions established by the County. Our goal is to continue collaborations and partnerships that will improve the welfare of our neighbors. Along with some current church improvements in progress, we are in the infant stages of creating a family resource program with a Lift Zone to provide internet access. Not bad for a small non-profit whose average attendance on Sundays is 50 people. All due to relationship building—connecting with the faith community, like-minded civic leaders, the business community, as well as with the City of Lakewood and Jefferson County.
As the growth continues in these areas, we realize that our efforts to reach others are imperative. The changes in our community have displaced some and attracted others. This has created a vacuum of relationships that begs for more than a social media band aid and screams for real human connections. Our work is focused on providing forums for those connections, whether through the arts, music, or simple game and movie nights. We are already having monthly BBQ’s where all are invited, working also with Two Creeks Neighborhood Organization, the Lakewood- West Colfax BID, and the Mountair Park Farm (Sprout City Farms) on community events. These fill a need, but there are deeper necessities in life. We want to have a relationship with those in our community. To be there to celebrate joys and to provide support during the struggles. A church can be a parish, both in the religious sense and the civic sense. We want to bring diverse groups together and create a sense of unity in a divided world—for those who are religious and those who are not. We are working to establish programs with 40 West Arts in a way to feed the soul in multiple ways.
I personally arrived in Colorado in 2014, at the beginning of all the changes the neighborhood and the state have experienced. Having lived in Puerto Rico, Florida, Washington State, Kentucky, Georgia, and with my journey originating in New York, I realize that every place has blessings and struggles, with history and narratives that are embedded in the minds and souls of its inhabitants. That dynamic creates challenges. I think it is good to have those, but not if they are swept under the rug, because that is a formula for more division. In my view, through MCC’s history, our church has been a miracle—because it brings together people who otherwise would not be. Could it be that the church is part of the answer for the unity that is needed? I believe so. And MCC, a small non-profit in the community, will work towards that end, as we continue to serve, perhaps even for the next 100 years.
