St. Tikhon's Chapel
Chapel History
St Mary’s, as it has been known locally for most of its History, was founded in 1905, and the ground for the original church was consecrated by St. Tikhon of Moscow. Our original Red brick building, surrounded by a cemetery, was the primary house of worship for the Calhan community from 1905 until 1927 when the building was destroyed by fire. The building was reconstructed in the early 1930’s and a newer, larger building was also constructed about a half mile south of the original location.
In the summer of 1995, at the parish’s 90th Anniversary his Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius and His Grace, Bishop Tikhon rededicated the church on the hill as a chapel dedicated to the founder of St. Mary’s Holy Dormition Orthodox Church, St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow.
In 2000, however, the building burned again and the parish began the long, drawn out process of reconstructing and then restoring the building.
We were able to complete a great deal of restoration by simply hanging the “Old Icons” (Iconography in the main church was replaced with a more “Byzantine” style by Fr. Nicholas Dotson of blessed memory) from the church down the hill and my trimming an old set of Holy doors taken from Pueblo by Fr. Nicholas and kept here in storage on April 8, 2013. We returned the chapel to semi nregular use in the summers at this point. Since there is no electricity or heat the chapel is usually closed for the winter.
On August 23, 2014, His Emeinence, Archbishop Benjamin traveled to Calhan and blessed the Iconostasis and completed the restoration.