Roy Community Church Cross - Roy, MT
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 47° 19.875 W 108° 57.443
12T E 654326 N 5243998
This cross stands between two former Presbyterian churches, one of which is now a community church,
Waymark Code: WM10JT8
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 05/17/2019
Views: 1
We can't say how long the cross has stood on this spot, but we can speak for the churches. The cross was made of steel, apparently powder coated a dark brown. It stands about midway between the two churches, the former Lutheran/Presbyterian church to its east and the Community Church to its west. The cross is about nine feet in height and is surrounded by a ring of small stones.
The little town of Roy, Montana attracted quite a few German speaking homesteaders, resulting in their establishing a Lutheran church not long after after the town was platted. The church continued with a good sized congregation for a few years, but the Montana drought, which began over a decade before the widespread drought of the "Dirty Thirties" caused the congregation to dwindle until, in 1931, there were so few Lutherans left in the town that they closed their church and the Presbyterians began to use it. Organized August 8, 1915, the Presbyterians had purchased a small building in 1917, in which they worshipped until 1931.
The Presbyterians were still using the church in 1962, in which year the Lutherans gave the church to the Presbyterians, a stipulation being that it continue in use as a church.
In 1964 the Presbyterian church in Fergus (now gone, the town has completely disappeared) was moved to Roy and the old Lutheran/Presbyterian church became the Fellowship Hall. Today, with no signage at the building and some of the windows boarded, it appears to experience only occasional use. The Fergus Church, newer and smaller, stands beside it. The Presbyterians, on March 31, 2015, voted 9 to 1 in favor of closing that church and it immediately reopened as a community church.
