Prairie House

After Marjie's mother, Esther Sprang, passed away, they fulfilled her wish of using her home as a retreat as well. In 1995, the Prairie House was also opened to guests. With eight beds, it can sleep up to 10 people.
 

Prairie House, which is the original farmstead home, has a living room which is perfect for meetings; it has a bathroom and four bedrooms, easily sleeping eight to ten persons. The Prairie House has a fully equipped kitchen if you choose to do your own cooking.

 Old Prairie Church and Meeting Room               

The Old Prairie Church is now in use for all kinds of retreats, meetings and overnight stays.  The old sanctuary area is now a large room for meetings and meals, the altar area now hosts the kitchen and bath room areas, the old balcony and the area above the kitchen and baths have become sleeping lofts and the ante room is now the chapel.  The large deck and adjoining meadow and orchard provide accessible space for almost any group. The lofts have beds for 9 people and there is a hide-a-bed on the ground floor.

Our need for a ground floor meeting room has been met in a most unusual way. Marjie was attending a meeting in Tulare, when she was asked, jokingly, to buy the old Methodist Church building... The asking price was $1...

The building was built in 1903 and was left unused after the 3 churches in the Tulare area decided to combine to form the Tulare United Church, which was dedicated in October 1999. Marjie did buy the church and she and Ray planned to take the church apart and use the pieces to build the new meeting room at Prairie Retreat. Then came a phone call from "an angel in the disguise of an out-of-state pheasant hunter" who offered to pay the cost of moving the church 60 miles to Prairie Retreat. He said that since the sanctuary had been a meeting room for nearly 100 years, it would be great at the farm and the side room with the stained glass window could serve as a chapel for the Retreat Center. What a wonderful gift!	The church at Tulare History
	However, Ray and Marjie believe the best gift is the rich spiritual heritage that lives within the walls. There are 98 years of prayers, songs, sermons and faith experiences in this building built with the courage of the South Dakota pioneers. "We are honored to receive the spiritual heritage that comes with the building and privileged that God thinks we can keep it going. That is a GREAT gift!"
Click on the small picture to see a larger view.
On June 28, 2001, the journey began from Tulare across the prairie 60 miles to Prairie Retreat, and stopped at the township road on the edge of the Retreat property after dark. June 29th the house movers finished the journey by going through the soybean field and across the meadow pulled by a 4 wheel drive assist tractor. This was done to save the trees around the Retreat property. Two more days of work were needed to bring the church to the foundation with touchdown at noon on July 3rd, 2001.
The spirit of the church remains intact and soars across the prairie through its new windows. The mellow wooden floor that was hidden under the altar area, once tread upon by a multitude of worshippers, now provides a solid base for the added kitchen and bathrooms. The old sanctuary walls still sing in the new meeting room and the original entryway with its lovely stained glass window has become a small chapel. The embossed metal, obviously left over from the once tinned walls and found resting in the bell tower, now is framed on a wall of the meeting room. The old balcony and the new balcony created by the kitchen and bathrooms have become loft sleeping and study areas. The Old Church in its new setting is nestled in tall trees and surrounded by flowerbeds, a meadow and orchard. The sounds of the ducks, chickens, geese and wild birds have formed the new "choir" for the Old Church. The building is now surrounded by a large deck and ramp making it accessible to all.
Any time of the year, Prairie Retreat allows you to enjoy the peaceful, natural surroundings of the prairie and a chance to rest and find spiritual renewal. The freshness of spring, the busyness of summer, the harvest in fall, and the serenity of winter are all evident at Prairie Retreat, and guests can experience God's gift of nature each season at the Prairie Retreat.		Autumn leaves
	Christmas Day
		Prairie sunset