Posted 11:02 pm Saturday, November 17, 2012
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Christian retreat sports new open-air chapel
By REBECCA HOEFFNER
rhoeffner@tylerpaper.com
VAN — Officials at Sky Ranch are calling the camp’s new prayer walkway and chapel “God ordained.”
rhoeffner@tylerpaper.com
VAN — Officials at Sky Ranch are calling the camp’s new prayer walkway and chapel “God ordained.”
“We’ve spent several years talking about what we were going to do,” Sam Hasz, facilities director at Sky Ranch, said. “Where we ended up with the whole project is just miraculous.”
The project includes a uniquely designed interactive fountain for children to play in, a stone fireplace surrounded by benches, a walkway lined with seven stones inscribed with messages about prayer that leads to the open-air chapel.
The messages on the stones describe the prayer life of Christ and how believers can emulate it.
“Christ went through the same things we do,” Sky Ranch president and CEO Linda Paulk said. “He experienced stress and rejection, but he handled it through prayer.”
The messages, which include Scripture as well as original statements and questions, were written by a team led by Sky Ranch’s chief ministry officer and chairman of the board.
“We wanted to make it culturally relevant in a way that a reader could relate to it,” Mrs. Paulk said.
Only six stones were ordered for the original design, but seven were accidentally constructed by the company Sky Ranch hired.
The messages on the stones describe the prayer life of Christ and how believers can emulate it.
“Christ went through the same things we do,” Sky Ranch president and CEO Linda Paulk said. “He experienced stress and rejection, but he handled it through prayer.”
The messages, which include Scripture as well as original statements and questions, were written by a team led by Sky Ranch’s chief ministry officer and chairman of the board.
“We wanted to make it culturally relevant in a way that a reader could relate to it,” Mrs. Paulk said.
Only six stones were ordered for the original design, but seven were accidentally constructed by the company Sky Ranch hired.
“It was no accident,” Mrs. Paulk said. “That seventh stone is so powerful — the message is about how God wants to have a relationship with you through prayer. And the number seven is very significant in the Bible.”
The chapel contains hand-designed stained glass windows, three pews made of a strong type of wood from South America, and the flagstone used for the walkway and chapel was hand-selected from Arizona. The whole project cost about $300,000 and was paid for by 280 donors. The area will be dedicated at a private ceremony on Sunday.
While individuals who visit the ranch can walk through the area for a time of personal reflection, officials also created a curriculum for staff counselors to use for camps.
“Imagine this: you’re sitting around this campfire, it’s dark, the stars are out, and the lights under the stones are lighting up the messages,” Mrs. Paulk said. “I can hardly talk about it without crying.”
The chapel contains hand-designed stained glass windows, three pews made of a strong type of wood from South America, and the flagstone used for the walkway and chapel was hand-selected from Arizona. The whole project cost about $300,000 and was paid for by 280 donors. The area will be dedicated at a private ceremony on Sunday.
While individuals who visit the ranch can walk through the area for a time of personal reflection, officials also created a curriculum for staff counselors to use for camps.
“Imagine this: you’re sitting around this campfire, it’s dark, the stars are out, and the lights under the stones are lighting up the messages,” Mrs. Paulk said. “I can hardly talk about it without crying.”
