Former Box Elder church restored to serve a new community

A small, pristine church sits alone in a field on a hill behind Skyview High, holding both a past and a future.

Built in 1917 in Box Elder, Faith Lutheran Church served a small congregation in the tiny north-central Montana town just south of the Canadian border for nearly 90 years. In the not-too-distant future, whats now called the Little White Church will be the worship center for a senior community planned by St. Johns Lutheran Ministries.

The church has been refurbished and restored as near to its original condition as possible. Its completion and rededication will be celebrated June 23-24 with festivities at the church.

Moving the building the 277 miles from Box Elder to Billings wasnt cheap, admits Kent Burgess, St. Johns president and CEO. It cost about $68,000 to move the church and steeple more than 275 miles.

But Burgess said it was worth it.

We could probably have built a church from the bottom up for less money, Burgess said. On the other hand, we wouldnt have the story, and whats important is the story.

The story starts with an idea that Burgess had and an offer that St. Johns got from Atonement Lutheran Church in the Billings Heights.

Id kept my eyes out for a little white church and always thought it would be wonderful to make it the center of a new senior living

community, Burgess said. In the midst of that, Atonement donated 7.82 acres to us.

Atonements congregation bought 22 acres behind Skyview in 2002 on which it intends to build a new church. It is sharing its old building, which it sold to City Church, until it raises the money to construct a new building.

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Former Box Elder church restored to serve a new community