The Story of Grace Fellowship: From a Chapel Car to a New Home in Buffalo

Grace Fellowship began on a railroad car. It grew up on the corner of Fort and Burritt. And this Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026, it opens the doors of a new home at 148 Cemetery Road in Buffalo, Wyoming. Every step of the way, it has been by grace. Here is the whole story in one place.

Our Story: Pastor Paul Gilbert on over 90 years in Buffalo.

Part 1: A church on rails

Our name comes from a church on wheels. On Sept. 12, 1914, the Barney & Smith company of Dayton, Ohio signed a contract to build a chapel car for $21,150. The gift came from the Conaway family of Orange County, California, of the Birch Oil company, given in memory of Grace, a beloved member of their family. The car was named Grace.

Chapel Car Grace.

Chapel Car Grace was Baptist Car 7, the last of the Baptist chapel car fleet. She was 85 feet 6 inches long and weighed 134,000 pounds. Inside were a 50-seat sanctuary, rooms for the pastor, a window that read "God Is Love," and Ephesians 2:8 stenciled on the wall. She was shown at the 1915 San Francisco Exposition, where 300 to 1,500 people a day walked through her, and she was commissioned in May 1915.

Grace rolled from town to town. In Wyoming her stops included Rawlins, Thermopolis, Powell, Riverton and Torrington. From 1924 to 1943 her pastor was A.C. Blinzinger.

Pastor and Mrs. A.C. Blinzinger.

A family at Chapel Car Grace.

Part 2: From the rails to Burritt

On Jan. 18, 1938, a small group meeting in Buffalo homes organized as First Baptist Church. Within 30 days there were 27 charter members. They met in homes, then in the Buffalo Grade School Music Arts Building.

In May 1938, Pastor A.C. Blinzinger came, and he brought the chapel car with him. Chapel Car Grace arrived in Buffalo on Sept. 10, 1938, and services began inside her that month. Soon the 50-seat car was filled past capacity, and the church decided to build.

Worship inside Chapel Car Grace, 1938.

Chapel Car Grace today, at Green Lake, Wisconsin.

Chapel Car Grace left Buffalo on Sept. 3, 1940. She was retired in 1946 and is now in Wisconsin.

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Part 3: The Burritt years

On Oct. 27, 1938, the church paid $211 down on lots at the corner of Fort and Burritt. The cornerstone was laid in August 1939, a gift of First Baptist Church of Sheridan. On Nov. 1, 1939, the church held its first service in the basement of its new building, and the sanctuary followed in May 1940. The $2,500 mortgage was paid off in 1945, and the church burned it on June 17, 1945.

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For 87 years, the corner of Fort and Burritt was home. In 1979 the church took the name Grace Fellowship, after the chapel car that brought it to Buffalo. In 1988 and 1989 the congregation rebuilt the sanctuary with their own hands. In 1993, more than 50 volunteers built an addition using old Sheridan brick.

Pastor Paul Gilbert came to Grace in 2014. The church kept growing, and the building on Burritt, with only 11 parking spaces, could no longer hold the family God was growing.

Part 4: Raising Grace, one miracle at a time

In July 2021 the church voted, 95 percent in favor, to buy 5.5 acres. In June 2022, a giver paid for the 4.5 acres next door and gave them to Grace: 10 acres, free and clear. That November, a foundation that was closing offered a $400,000 matching gift. By Dec. 31, 2022, the match was met, and $813,500 had been given in all.

On April 30, 2023, the church gathered on the land to pray over it at a groundbreaking service. In January 2024 a second match, Join the Adventure, raised $48,000. In fall 2024 the new entrance was cut in. In fall 2025 digging began for the new building, and in December 2025, 24 acres were given to Grace to sell toward the building.

A Foundation of Miracles

The miracles kept coming. Croell opened its Buffalo plant for the foundation pour. The price of steel held ahead of tariffs. Backordered tiles arrived. The given land supplied dirt and boulders for the campus. Rocky Mountain Power came ahead of schedule. A mild fall and winter moved the projected opening from April 2027 to November 2026, and the architect called the progress miraculous. In September 2026 came the gift of a 1950 Chevy.

Read the story of the 1950 Chevy: It Is Never the Amount. It Is the Heart.

"The House of Miracles is built on the foundation of miracles, and the foundation of miracles propels us into a future of miracles." Adam Metcalf

On Oct. 3, 2026, the cross was raised, with prayers. And when it was time to finish, many hands helped make it home.

Part 5: Coming home

On Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, we worshiped on Burritt for the last time. We sang through the decades, Stephanie Berglund prayed over us, and Pastor Paul shared news of a $231,000 gift. "We're not gonna need to borrow more."

This Sunday, Nov. 15, we open the doors of our new home at 148 Cemetery Road. Fellowship starts at 9:00 AM, with a ribbon cutting and our first service at 9:30 AM. You're invited.

By grace

From a railroad car to a basement, from Burritt to Cemetery Road, the same words that were stenciled inside Chapel Car Grace still say it best:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8, KJV)

Thank you to everyone who prayed, gave, built and believed. The next chapter has room for you. Join us at 148 Cemetery Rd., Buffalo, Wyoming, Saturdays at 5:30 PM and Sundays at 9:30 AM. SAME GRACE. NEW PLACE.