When The Stars Align

On a hill far away in a rural Norse community in central Texas sits a hidden gem. The Old Rock Church, a small Lutheran church built in 1886, is commonly referred to as St. Olaf Kirke. In the fall of 2022, I attempted to get a Milky Way picture over the old church. The weather was perfect, and the celestial alignment was ideal. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the gate was locked and had to settle for a not so great shot with my 20mm lens from outside the gate.

A Milky Way shot of the Old Rock Church from outside the gate in October 2022.

This spring we visited our host site The Sundown Valley Ranch during the new moon. Before we left on our trip, I made arrangements for the gate to be opened on Wednesday. We arrived on a Tuesday with the sun shining and partly cloudy skies. I called again to have the gate opened that night instead. When I got there at 3am, the clouds had filled the sky. I took a few shots with the glow of the ambient light and locked the gate and left disappointed.

A photo with ambient light and a cloudy sky.

Wednesday my wife and I visited the site during the day with the sun shining and took some pictures with our phones.

Front entrance.

I made arrangements for the gate to be open again. I looked forward to another attempt. That night the clouds came rolling in again. I drove out to the church without my camera around 3am and locked the gate.

On Thursday a cool front was scheduled to pass through Central Texas in the afternoon. I was hoping it would clear out all the clouds and there would be one more opportunity as this was our last night to be in the area. Around 6pm the rain had lessened, and the cloudy skies started to decrease in the west. I made arrangements for the gate to be opened one last time. I set my alarm for 3am and woke up to see stars in the sky with a few remaining clouds on the horizon in the southeast, which was the direction wherein the Milky Way would rise. I drove to the church, set up my tripod, and pointed my camera to the southeast. Using my phone application, I pointed the lens to where the Milky Way should be and pressed the shutter for a thirty second exposure. The click of the shutter revealed a beautiful Milky Way arching above the church. For the next two hours, I watched and took pictures as the core of the Milky Way started to rise vertically next to the church steeple.

Shot taken from the cemetery looking southeast.

There is something magical about being under the celestial heavens silhouetted by an old house of worship. (Deuteronomy 3:24) One’s senses are magnified by the coyotes howling, birds chirping and elk bugling on the high fence ranch across the road. Each release of the shutter created anticipation of the images I would capture.

On this night, the stars aligned and allowed me to capture images of God’s creations. This was definitely a bucket list item for me. Patience and persistence had payed off after a year of waiting. I hope you enjoy the images and video. God bless you and thanks for reading my blog!

Tim Lumpkin

If you are interested you can read more about the history of the land and church on these two websites.

https://www.stainedglasstravel.com/2019/06/st-olafs-lutheran-kirke-rock-church.html

http://rockchurch-gap.com