There are two different definitions for the word “Church.” One is the people that make up the body of Christ and the other is the church building. At Circle C Ranch we refer to the Church (Capital C) as those that are putting their faith in Jesus Christ. Part of the heritage and vision for Circle C Ranch is that it is a unifying place for people of all different races, denominations, and backgrounds to come and experience the Lord in a unique western environment. One beautiful building on the property for that purpose is an old country church (Lowercase c) called “The Glory House.” This church was built in the early 1900’s and had an amazing revival during the 40’s where God worked in amazing ways. After the congregation built a larger church, the building became dormant and when plans were made to turn the building into a bar, the congregation contacted Trish and donated it to Circle C Ranch. There it served as a gathering place with the idea of turning into an “Opry” house with all the flavor of Branson MO. But that idea didn’t come to fruition and it began to fall into major disrepair. Paint pieces from the ceiling were coming down and there was no heating or insulation in the building so it began to look as if the little country church was going the way of so many building in our small communities.
But God had another plan and after giving Trish the vision of resurrection over the ministry, He showed Trish that the old country church was intended to be “The Glory House”. When the decision was made to turn it back into a church, people began to come out of the woodwork to renovate and revive it and two of those were Bill and Darline Mahowald. Bill and Darline could see that God had special plans for Circle C Ranch and joined the board in 2010. They had a heart in particular for the “The Glory House” and began to work with Trish and many others to resurrect it. Youth from a local church came out the summer of 2012 to help take out old insulation, wallboard, and paint. With hard work, sweat, and lots of enthusiasm, the inside of the church was gutted. Two brothers from Regent, ND heard what was going on at the church and showed up with their hired man to put on a new porch, handicap access ramp and entry, and lay down asphalt on the road around the ministry. Numerous people showed up to clean, scrub, paint, build, move items around, and finally the church was turned into an unrecognizable shell. Thus began the time consuming process of restoration with so many people giving of their time and energy to accomplish what God had begun!
Today, “The Glory House” has been transformed into a beautiful country church with an amazing sanctuary and worship area, hardwood hickory floors, a kitchen, gas fireplace, and is truly a place where God’s hand is visible. God chose to begin the process of resurrection at Circle C Ranch with the old country church and you are welcome to see first-hand a part of the amazing work God has been doing through people who have caught on to the vision.