Finding treasure in a desert junkyard 5. One of the first things newcomers notice about Paonia is the churches. There are bunches of them. In fact, Paonia once landed in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the most churches per capita anywhere. As far as I know, they re all flavors of Christian, so there s heavy competition for parishioners.
Most churches have a sign out front enticing passers-by to join.
Last Saturday, I glanced out my window to see somebody s kid running door to door, hanging cards on doorknobs. Apparently, the old guard is fighting efforts to give the church a makeover. Two weeks ago, they went so far as to attempt a Saturday coup, switching the locks and firing the pastor. That s when the police had to be called in to mediate. Now, pastor and electric bass-player Gaylen Kinser holds three services each Sunday to accommodate all the people.