PRAISE & WORSHIP When we finally found the Guardian Angel Roadside Chapel tucked into the woods along South 24th Street in Clear Lake, after we’d asked for directions and still drove by the unmarked landmark, we met Scott Kennedy. He was there with his nephew, an Iowa State University student from the western U.S., cleaning the chapel and grounds for a funeral the next day. It’s difficult to envision a funeral inside this miniscule place of only a few short pews. But one was planned and the mess from an invading squirrel needed to be swept and gathered into garbage bags. Although I did not see it, my husband spotted the succumbed squirrel. I was more focused on the chapel interior with its beautiful center stained glass cross crafted by a local artist and side stained glass windows salvaged from Zion Lutheran Church. The cross was designed to attract the attention of travelers along nearby Interstate 35. This truly is a functional church with altar, organ and baptismal font. I was especially delighted to find my favorite Bible verse — the scripture that has guided me through some rough patches in life — inscribed on a dedication plaque inside the entry: We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him. — Romans 8:28. Serendipitous? Perhaps. But more likely divine. It is the divine intervention of God that led Scott and others to construct the Guardian Angel Roadside Chapel in 1991 in honor of Scott’s aunt, Marguerite Williams. She was convinced that God protected her from kidnapping by a band of gypsies while growing up in Clear Lake. And later, while working at a Chicago medical clinic, Marguerite again experienced God’s protection when she encountered a gang of hoodlums. It was hoodlums, or more accurately criminals, who set fire to
CHURCHES
Agape Christian Family Church 2810 Highway 18 W. | (641) 357-8014 www.agapepage.com Celebration Community Church 805 10th Ave. N. | (641) 357-0026 Clear Lake Christian Church 302 Highway 18 W. | (641) 357-4885 www.myclcc.net
Clear Lake Church of Christ 2010 14th Ave. N. | www.clearlakecc.com Sunday School - 9:30 a.m. Sunday Worship Service - 10:30 a.m. Denotes Clear Lake Chamber member
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Guardian Angel Roadside Chapel South 24th Street The intricate stained glass cross in the chapel serves as a beacon to interstate travelers. Venture up the wooded drive, through the white gates adorned with angels, to the peaceful chapel built with a combination of salvaged materials from a local church and the talents of local artisans. Travelers feel rejuvenated after spending time at this peaceful sanctuary.
the first Guardian Angel Chapel a year after it was built, Scott shared. The blaze was to distract responders from Lakeside Church a break-in across 5419 240th St. | (641) 357-4019 | www.oakwoodrvpark.net town. Undeterred, In 1884 the Ladies Aid Society of Lakeside Church organized to Scott and others build a proper place of worship to replace the services held at determined the rural schoolhouse. Six years later, a live Christmas tree was trimmed with strings of popcorn and cranberries and lighted to rebuild this candles, just in time for the first church service to be held. Fully chapel, which was restored with turn of the century furnishings, the church takes rededicated on April you back to a simpler time. 4, 1993. An informational WORSHIP IN THE PARK paper I found inside the chapel states Memorial Day weekend – its purpose: This chapel was built as Labor Day weekend a witness to Christ. It is the hope and Sundays 9:30 a.m. City Park prayers of the builders that people worshipping here will be closer to Christ and will have their own guardian angel look after them. Audrey Kletscher Helbling blogs from Faribault, Minnesota, some 50 miles north of the Iowa border. Her writing and photography showcase a deep appreciation for the people, places and events of rural and small town Midwest America. That passion traces to her roots on a southwestern Minnesota dairy and crop farm, thus her aptly-named blog, Minnesota Prairie Roots.
Galilean Lutheran Church 4454 255th St. | (641) 357-2296 www.luther95.org/GLC-CLIA Clear Lake Evangelical Free Church 1310 Highway 18 W. | (641) 357-7581 www.clearlakefree.org Sunday Worship Service - 9:30 a.m Sunday Classes - 11 a.m. Clear Lake Regular Baptist Church 314 N. Sixth St. | (641) 357-5851 www.irbc.org
First Congregational Church 205 W. 10th Ave. N. | (641) 357-2818 www.congregationalcl.com Sunday School - 9 a.m. Sunday Worship Service - 10:10 a.m. Destination Clear Lake 2016
Harvest Bible Chapel 2200 N. 24th St. | (641) 357-7500 www.harvestclearlake.org Redeemer Lutheran Church 301 S. Main Street, Ventura (641) 829-3650
United Methodist Church 508 Second Ave. N. | (641) 357-5247 www.clearlakeumc.org Sunday Worship Services - 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m. Wednesday Worship Service 5:10 p.m.
ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH
St. Patrick’s Catholic Church 1001 9th Ave. S. | (641) 357-3214 (Rectory) www.stpatrick.weconnect.com Saturday Mass - 4 p.m. Sunday Mass - 9:30 a.m.
Zion Lutheran Church 112 N. Fourth St. | (641) 357-5261 www.zionclearlake.org Saturday Worship Services 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. Sunday Worship Services 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. www.clearlakeiowa.com
