'Thursday Night Pursuits' at Libby Christian Church

For these past few weeks, a local church has held services in the midst of wild animals.

The Libby Christian Church, located on Kootenai River Road, has decorated its walls with mounts from locals for the past 11 years as a testimony to the community’s love for hunting.

The mounts and stuffed animals stay up for five weeks and range from moose, white-tailed deer, elk, mountain lions, bears, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and this year, a rhinoceros.

Even though some of the mounts make a repeat appearance year after year, the arrangements change, according to Pastor Phil Alspaw.

Alspaw said that not only do the mounts mirror hunting season, it mirrors what the church does on Sunday mornings with “Adventures from Bill and Jim,” presentations from Bill Armstrong and Jim Regh on their outdoor adventures.

Guests can put their names in for the weekly gun give-away, and kids enjoy activities including archery, campfire and crafts.

Every night during their children’s program, they give a gun away to a young hunter.