Anne and Mago Lauritzen stand in the former sanctuary of the Spanish Assembly of God Church. They bought the building in April and are resurrecting it into their home.

Mago and Anne Lauritzen are turning collection plates into dinner plates.  

  

“Mago and I are both musicians,” Anne said. “We have a lot of friends who are musicians and performers. We play a lot of music together, just for the joy of it. We expect to put on shows for ourselves, our friends and our neighbors.”   

So, in a way, it made sense to buy a small church, which offered the space where they could do what they love.   

“We’d been looking for a house but nothing was motivating us,” Mago said Thursday.   

The Spanish Assembly of God Church as it appeared on the El Paso County Assessor’s web site.

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The church has been painted and windows replaced as Anne and Mago Lauritzen resurrect it as a home.

 Then in April they saw a “For Sale” sign on the old Spanish Assembly of God Church at 15th Street and West Pikes Peak Avenue.  

“We put an offer that day,” said Anne, who manages the couple’s Colorado Academy of Music & Dance where they both teach “Brazilian Capoeira,” which they describe on their blog as “break dance fighting.”  

The past four months, Mago has been busy resurrecting the building, which dates to 1894, into a modern home with three bedrooms, two baths, a loft (not a choir loft) a new kitchen, laundry room and, of course, a stage with a spotlight.  

Mago ripped out decrepit wiring and plumbing, cut out its steel boiler and replaced old stain glass with new windows.  

He has exposed its vaulted ceilings, straightened its walls and revealed hidden cavities that will become living spaces.  

  

Cool trim pieces salvaged from demolition will adorn the   

interior. So will some old doors that once divided the sanctuary of the church.  

They may even recycle old stained glass and install some new stained glass.  

As usual when an building is remodeled, they’ve discovered cool old stuff.  

“We’ve found old bottles and something that looked like an old baseball card that had a picture of St. Paul and was dated Oct. 10, 1909,” Mago said.  

   

    

Mago Lauritzen inspects stained glass removed from the church during demolition. He may try to reuse it as he renovates the building into a home.

    

  

  

The old Spanish Assembly Church of God, built in 1894, retains much of its character as Anne and Mago Lauritzen resurrect it as a home.

    

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These odd impressions in basement concrete led Anne and Mago Lauritzen to speculate there could be people buried in the church.

    

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One of the things unearthed during demolition was this 1909 lesson card.

    

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This is a brief history of the church compiled by the last congregation.

    

Follow the progress of their renovation on Mago and Anne’s blog.   

    

The Lauritzens’ plans for the church call for three bedrooms and two bathrooms and 3,000 square feet on the main level.

    

Learn more about their Brazilian Capoeira at this link.   

    

Brazilian Capoeira is a mix of martial arts fighting and dance done to music.

    

Find their Colorado Academy of Music & Dance here.   

    

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