Frequently Asked Questions

When was the church built? - The church was built in 1937, the same year as Timberline Lodge.

Does the church still hold services? - No, it has not held services since the early 1970s, likely 1972.

Who owns the church? - The church is owned by Mike Gudge, who bought it in 1976 and began his 46-year restoration effort with the help of John Steiner, who was Henry Steiner’s son, and a handful of other skilled craftsmen. Mike lived in the back of the church for the first 20 years before building the home he currently lives in next door. Of note is that the building had no heat, water, or power when Mike first moved in!

Has the church always been in its current location? - No, the church used to be located a few miles away, next to Hwy 26 in Welches. When the State of Oregon needed the property the church was sitting on for widening the highway, the building was put up for sale. Those interested in the building wanted to disassemble it for its logs, while others wanted to move it to California to turn it into a restaurant, and there was even talk of the Fire Department wanting to burn it as a training exercise. Thankfully, Mike Gudge had the vision and the will to buy the church so as to save, restore, and preserve this wonderful piece of Oregon history.

Was the church moved as one piece, or was it taken apart and reassembled? - Weighing approximately 200,000 lbs., the church was moved all as one piece! You can read about the move on this website, as well as watch a fascinating 36 minute video of the move on a monitor in the church.

Had the church been moved before? - Yes, after the Catholic Church “decommissioned” the church in the early 1970s, the building was bought by the Mt. Hood Players, a local theatre group. In turn, they moved it one mile from its original location in Welches to a large open space adjoining the Mt. Hood Women’s Club building in Zigzag.

What was it like for Mike Gudge to live in the church? - As told by Mike…

This is one of my favorite stories to tell.  When I was living in the Church and working in Portland in the winter months, I would leave early in the morning in the dark and more than likely come home in the dark, sometimes 8 or 9 o’clock or later and in that it took an hour to warm the place up with the wood stove, I would just turn on the electric blanket and the kerosene or propane heater in the bathroom, take a shower and go to bed without building a fire. That electric blanket saved my life. I would read at night in bed, all toasty and warm but with one arm out from the covers to hold my book. When that arm got numb with cold, I would switch arms and thaw out the frozen one. In the morning, it only took about 15 minutes to get up, comb my hair, eat breakfast in front of the propane heater and head for the truck to drive to work. 

On the subject of cold, not often, but when the temperature dropped into the teens and even single digits, I knew the wood stove would not hold heat all night so I had to turn the water off and drain the pipes so they wouldn’t freeze, then in the morning build a fire and turn the water back on when the place warmed up. That was a weekend happening, if it were a workday, I just left the water off until I could build a fire and keep the pipes from freezing.

This was kind of an adventure when I was younger but the older I got, this “camping out” got pretty old. I lived like this for about 20 years from 1976 to 1996 when I moved into the shop in quarters I figured I could heat with a candle after all those years in the Church. 

Are any of the wooden benches original? - Only one bench is original to the church, and it is marked by a small bronze plaque. All of the rest of the benches were crafted by hand by Yuri, a master craftsman who works with Mike. Per Mike… I only have one original bench for the church and it is without a back.  Father Palladino gave it to me with the two choir loft windows in exchange for work I did on the new church.  The first few pews Yury built were replicas of the originals from photos I showed him and dimensions. He actually improved the original design.  This style pew was quite simple and Yury had never built furniture before but became quite artistic with his furniture building skills that we found some cedar slabs and started building some quite artistic designs of tables, chairs and benches and a podium that belongs in a museum!

Are the two stained glass windows original to the church? - Yes. While the original stained glass windows lining the sanctuary remain with the St. John In the Woods Catholic Church located today in Welches, Father Robert Palladino gifted the two beautiful stained glass windows in the choir loft of the 1937 Steiner Log Church to Mike Gudge. You’ll find a portrait painted of Father Palladino hanging in the church today.

Did the church have an altar? - Yes, but since the church was decommissioned by the Catholic Church, Mike decided to replace the altar with a fireplace, so as to give the building more the presence of a mountain lodge.

Is the fireplace original? - No. Here is the story about the fireplace, as explained by Mike…

In about 2019 or so I mentioned to one carpenter, Jonny Kimball, that maybe I didn’t need an altar but instead maybe a fireplace.  He is a painter also and brought in a painting the next morning of what we had talked about, and we built the fireplace to his painting including buying and placing the wingback chairs!

We hand-picked each stone for color and character, and to get tight joints, each stone had to be cut at least once and the edges re-rounded with a rock hammer.  The fireplace is truly a work of art.

Is the kitchen original? - No. The kitchen was added by Mike Gudge. Here is the story, as told by Mike…

All the years I lived I the Church, I never had a kitchen, just a dishpan, a propane stove, a 1937 GE monitor top refrigerator and an electric tabletop oven.  The refrigerator worked fine unless you turned it up to try and freeze ice cream or ice in a little freezer compartment.  It never froze the ice cream, but it would freeze eggs, tomatoes and lettuce!  I ate the ice cream before it needed to be frozen.

At some point around 2017 or 2018, I had my first carpenter help me build a kitchen in the north nave on the opposite side of the church from the bathroom nave.  I had a rare 2 door monitor top refrigerator and a reproduction electric cook stove made to look like an old wood cook stove.  We built a kitchen counter with sink, drawers and upper cabinets out of left over fir flooring.  Next came a breakfast bar with a wood multi-pained glass door that hinges down to close off the kitchen side of the breakfast bar to the congregation side.  This way I could open the door to the sacristy where the wood stove is and close the breakfast bar window and have heat in the kitchen without “trying” to heat the whole church, an impossible task in the winter months.

What is the story behind the gazebo out behind the church? - This is the last “Steiner built” structure on the mountain. Here is Mike’s explanation…

When I approached John Steiner about building the gazebo, I told him I didn’t want a center post, as I wanted to be able to put a car in it.  He growled and said that was a lot of work to not have a center post.  I told him I didn’t want it then.  He came back the next morning and said he had figured out how to build it without the center post.  I said, “John, go get your axe!”

What is the story about the military truck out front?

Per Mike… It’s about a 1954, Korean era, automatic trans with a six-cylinder overhead GMC engine and it was made by GMC. I lost 4th gear years ago so it wasn’t really drivable on the road although I could drive it around the yard. I suspect I could charge those old batteries today and prime it and it would run. Those old military trucks are built for stout and durability. I’m not much good about timetables but I expect it has been in that spot for 25 years and maybe last ran 15 years ago. One of my carpenters, years ago, cleaned all the moss off of it. I read him the riot act and made him put it all back! Yard art!!! I have five spare tires for it and I don’t think I could get even one in my pickup bed by myself, heavy! 

Does the antique pump organ work? - Yes, it does! We’ve had a few skilled organists visit the church and play it. The organ dates back to the 1700s, and Mike bought it in Sydney, British Columbia. Being made by the Snell Brothers in London, it very well may have come around the horn.

Why is there a kayak hanging in the rafters? - Mike bought that kayak because he liked the beautiful woodwork. While most kayaks like this have only one outrigger, this one has two, as well as a sail. It used to be paddled on the Columbia River. Mike needed a place to store it, so today it is on display in the church!

When did John Steiner die? - John Steiner died in 2012 at the age of 99.