Cloudcroft UMC History

The Cloudcroft United Methodist Church was born May 4, 1969. The present continuous congregation began holding services on that first Sunday in May in what is now the Green Mountain Real Estate office located at the intersection of Burro St. and Osha Trail. At that time, the church was what is now termed "A Store Front Church". At one point in history, the building also served as the office for the Otero County Electric Cooperative. In 1969, eleven adults and eight children withdrew their membership from the High Rolls/ Mountain Park rolls and began the Cloudcroft United Methodist Mission. Our minister was shared with Wesley UMC in Alamogordo, NM and we became a mission of Wesley. The owner of the store front church property, P.B. Hendrix of Alamogordo, sold the building in January 1971 forcing the congregation to move. Shortly thereafter, the mission purchased the present church building site from the Presbyterian church.

This newly aquired building had been empty from 1959 to the summer of 1970 until a local square dance club gained permission from the Presbyterian Church to use the building. The square dance club and the Cloudcroft Women's Club used the building and named it the "Outpost". The Cloudcroft United Methodist Mission purchased the present site, land and building, for $2,734.61 in 1971. The inside was remodeled and a pitched roof installed. Up until then, the building had a flat roof. It was originally built as a Community Church in 1947 and started with only a basement and a floor added on top according to building plans that were discovered when the 1971 remodeling began.

Richard Mitchell's parents were members of the Community Church and his brother, Bob, helped to shovel the sand and gravel used in the construction of the original building. The sand and gravel was transported up the mountain by one of the last small gauge railroad trains just before the train and tracks were removed in 1947. The Community Church was organized December 1, 1946 and disbanded about 1951. The building remained empty until the Presbyterians bought it in June of 1956 and then disbanded in 1959. In May of 1975 Cloudcroft United Methodist Mission was removed from mission status with Wesley UMC and became the Cloudcroft United Methodist Church (CCUMC). Due to the "Church" status, we could now hold our own deed.

In 1984 the Annual Conference of the UMC realigned the El Paso District and once again we became a two point charge with High Rolls/Mountain Park UMC. However, this raised a couple of problems. First of all, neither church owned a parsonage. This resulted in the purchase of the present parsonage in 1984 located in Cloudcroft. The second problem was that there was no common office nor equipment for the two point charge.

CCUMC always had a dream of having more than a one room, one small bathroom, church. With the death of Richard's mother, Mabel Mitchell, a building fund was started in 1988. In April 1989 the raising of the walls for the Sunday School addition began. An Open House was held on May 6, 1990. Four months later, remodeling of the original building started on labor day in 1990. The original 12" X 12" wooden posts were removed and replaced with smaller metal posts. The dark paneled wainscoting, that was installed in the 1971 remodel, was also removed.

On June 7, 1992, Cloudcroft UMC reached a major milestone by becoming a single point charge. At the same time, the church started conducting two worship services due to the rapid growth of the congregation. It would not be long before more space was needed. Finally, 30 years and 15 ministers later, excavation began in the spring of 1998 for a new sanctuary and additional classrooms. In June 1999 the framing of the new sanctuary began. Five months later, on November 21, 1999, the first service was conducted in the new sanctuary. Consecration Sunday was on February 27, 2000. District Superintendent, Milton Chester, delivered the sermon at the 11:00 am service after which was a potluck. At 1:30 pm, Bishop Alfred L. Norris officiated the consecration ceremony. Praise the Lord.