The Rev. Ben Delin of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango said recent renovations are transforming the space to better serve the community for years to come. The congregation faced hardship when an act of arson burned the building to the ground in 1971, and again during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic and all the anxiety it caused made Delin realize people’s stories are worth listening to in order to bridge divides and make a stronger community. Renovations include lower-positioned windows, glass doors, lighting, paint and carpet. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
The Rev. Ben Delin of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango said recent renovations are transforming the space to better serve the community for years to come. The congregation faced hardship when an act of arson burned the building to the ground in 1971, and again during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic and all the anxiety it caused made Delin realize people’s stories are worth listening to in order to bridge divides and make a stronger community. Renovations include lower-positioned windows, glass doors, lighting, paint and carpet. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

Like many faith-based communities, the COVID-19 pandemic raised a lot of anxiety for the congregation at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango. For the Rev. Ben Delin, the pandemic also illuminated the opportunity for change.

“Everyone was anxious, everyone was upset – like, everyone, right?” Delin said. “I just realized everyone has a story, and maybe people just need to talk and they’d be less reactive in their anger or angst if they could feel heard.”

The church at 2611 Junction St. is in the middle of renovating its space to provide a venue for people to be heard, he said. An open house with a catered meal is planned for 11:30 a.m. Aug. 23 to celebrate the remodel. A rededication of the building is scheduled for 12:30 that afternoon, and the whole community is invited.

Delin said the church has been holding worship in a space he calls the Animas Room that is planned to be a coffee spot or internet cafe while renovations of the auditorium are completed.

The Rev. Ben Delin of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango and Carola Walton, church secretary, examine a mural that was painted on the wall in the church by members of the congregation. The church has been going through an extensive renovation to better accommodate services and community meetings. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
The Rev. Ben Delin of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango and Carola Walton, church secretary, examine a mural that was painted on the wall in the church by members of the congregation. The church has been going through an extensive renovation to better accommodate services and community meetings. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

It’s not ideal for services, but it suits the church’s needs for now. Delin said he hopes it will become a meeting space for community members to talk, share stories and get to know one another a little better.

A new sound system is in the works for the auditorium. New carpeting reduces the chance of elderly churchgoers tripping over ripples or folds. The redesign allows five times more natural light into the auditorium. Meeting rooms are meant to accommodate private meetings and remote workers looking for a space to get things done.

“In the middle of COVID we closed our preschool, and that was really hard. There were tears,” Delin said.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango is going through an extensive renovation. An open house with a catered meal is planned for 11:30 a.m. Aug. 23 to celebrate the remodel. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango is going through an extensive renovation. An open house with a catered meal is planned for 11:30 a.m. Aug. 23 to celebrate the remodel. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

There had been talks about refreshing the space, and the church decided it was finally time to pursue those plans.

“Renewal is a fun way to look at it. Otherwise, it’s just heartbreak,” Delin said.

From disaster to renewal

The pastor likened the church’s transformation to a phoenix rising from the ashes – a particularly apt metaphor for someone familiar with the church’s history. The pandemic was not the first time the church had to adapt to phenomenal circumstances.

In 1971, a fire started by three Miller Middle School students burned the Lutheran Church to the ground, Delin said, pointing to a keystone dated 1961 on the corner of a redbrick wall – the only remaining piece of the original church building that wasn’t water, smoke or fire damaged.

The only original wall of the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango that survived a 1971 fire contains the building’s keystone dated 1961. The Lutheran Church in Durango was originally built in 1884 and relocated several times before it was rebuilt on its current plot at 2611 Junction St. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
The only original wall of the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango that survived a 1971 fire contains the building’s keystone dated 1961. The Lutheran Church in Durango was originally built in 1884 and relocated several times before it was rebuilt on its current plot at 2611 Junction St. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

Carol McKelvey, whose father Elmer Bergman was the pastor at the time, organized old editions of The Durango Herald containing reports of the fire. Delin had an old registry of weddings and funerals held at the church McKelvey’s father had recreated by hand because the original registry was falling apart after being damaged in the fire.

McKelvey said she was a teacher at Miller Middle School at the time of the fire. The version of events she was told differs from the Herald’s reports, but she doesn’t know for sure what really happened. What she recalls is three middle schoolers were on the roof of the school when a bus returning from a sports event in Farmington arrived. The children were spooked and fled across the road to the Lutheran Church.

Determined to light something on fire, the children targeted the church, smashing the long windows that stretched up from floor level, climbing inside and lighting the altar on fire, McKelvey said.

Part of the renovations of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango include lower windows in the church sanctuary that allows parishioners to look outside. When the building was rebuilt in 1973 after a fire two years before, it was built to never burn down again, church officials said. Windows 7 feet or more off the ground were designed to prevent break-ins, which was the cause of the fire. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Part of the renovations of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango include lower windows in the church sanctuary that allows parishioners to look outside. When the building was rebuilt in 1973 after a fire two years before, it was built to never burn down again, church officials said. Windows 7 feet or more off the ground were designed to prevent break-ins, which was the cause of the fire. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

Delin said the Lutheran Church held services in the auditorium at Miller Middle School for several weeks, which he called ironic, before moving services to the Seventh Day Adventist Church for a time.

McKelvey said the fire was devastating. She remembered her father pacing through the parking lot. He said, “There goes 40 years of my life.”

Lutheran churches and other denominations pitched in to raise money for a new building, she said.

Delin said Paul Erickson and Al Murdoch designed the Lutheran Church’s new building so it could never be burned down again. The windows were about 7½ feet off the ground. One couldn’t actually see the landscape through them. It was built in 1973.

“There was a time that the church would have just gone, ‘Yeah, maybe that’s it,’” he said.

He said the fire destroyed all but one wall of the church and left a mark on the congregation. But that wasn’t the end of the church’s story.

Renovations serve audio and visualism in faith-based services

Ben Delin, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango, said worship service is tactile, involving touch, taste, visual and audio elements. Natural lighting can transform a space. A proper audio system setup can make a big difference in how a service is received too. The Lutheran Church has used the same audio speaker system since 1973 when the church was rebuilt after a devastating fire, Delin said.“Those speakers have served really well for 63 years,” he said. But the speakers were hung 20 feet in the air and blasted sound straight forward instead of at a downward angle toward the congregation. The church is finally getting a new sound system in addition to other improvements to the building in a renovation meant to accommodate the church and the greater community for years to come. The project involves wall furring, drywall and new paint. A communion rail is being relocated so elderly church members have an easier time approaching the altar. The rail used to be behind the altar, lectern and pulpit, and three members have fallen down the stairs – three incidents too many, Delin said. New chandeliers and lighting have required electrical rewiring. Improvements to the choir loft make it easier to see down into the auditorium. Delin said old pews that were falling apart have been replaced. The flooring has been replaced. New community spaces are designed to facilitate conversations and storytelling.

The church’s current refurbishments were designed with a focus on safety, accessibility and long-term usability for future generations, he said.

The addition of the Animas Room is among the most meaningful additions, Delin said.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango has been holding worship in the Animas Room during construction at the church. The Animas Room will become an internet cafe and a meeting place for community members when the auditorium reopens for services. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango has been holding worship in the Animas Room during construction at the church. The Animas Room will become an internet cafe and a meeting place for community members when the auditorium reopens for services. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

“Its purpose is simple but intentional: the cost of a cup of coffee is sharing your story, creating a space where community, memory and connection continue to grow,” he said.

He said the community space wasn’t necessarily designed to grow the Lutheran Church’s congregation. It’s designed to bring people together regardless of their beliefs.

“Whether it’s political or theological or just life in general, if we’re curious about people and you sit with someone long enough, you might still disagree with them,” he said. “But if you hear their story, you might just go, ‘I understand.’”

He said he wants to invest in people because people matter.

Part of the renovation of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango includes glass that replaced a short wooden wall that blocked the view of the auditorium from the choir loft in the church sanctuary. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Part of the renovation of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango includes glass that replaced a short wooden wall that blocked the view of the auditorium from the choir loft in the church sanctuary. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church hosts a variety of programs, some of which it has offered for decades.

Delin said there is a Joy Club for adults with special needs from across the Four Corners that is held twice a month. An art club meets regularly at the church. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes from Miller Middle School began meeting at the church during the school’s renovations several years ago because they didn’t have another place to go.

“There’s a lot of ability to use this (space) to have a meeting, whether it’s affiliated with the church or not,” he said.

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The only original wall of the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango that survived a 1971 fire contains the building’s keystone dated 1961. The Lutheran Church in Durango was originally built in 1884 and relocated several times before it was rebuilt on its current plot at 2611 Junction St. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
The only original wall of the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango that survived a 1971 fire contains the building’s keystone dated 1961. The Lutheran Church in Durango was originally built in 1884 and relocated several times before it was rebuilt on its current plot at 2611 Junction St. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
The Rev. Ben Delin of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango looks over the remodel of the church sanctuary. An open house with a catered meal is planned for 11:30 a.m. Aug. 23 to celebrate the remodel. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
The Rev. Ben Delin of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Durango looks over the remodel of the church sanctuary. An open house with a catered meal is planned for 11:30 a.m. Aug. 23 to celebrate the remodel. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)