During the closing service at the downtown Yakima Vineyard Church building, congregants repeatedly pointed out that a church is more than just a building.

“A church is not a building, it’s the people in it,” said Chris Thompson, a member of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, shortly before Sunday’s service. “I am confident that God will lead us to a better place.”

The members of the Vineyard congregation are an active church that does much for the poor and others in the Yakima Valley, but those activities will soon be focused elsewhere.

The last Vineyard service was held Sunday in the 116-year-old building at Third Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The building — with stately stone walls, beautiful stained glass windows and handcrafted fixtures — needs an electrical overhaul and roof repairs.

Problems with the church’s insurance company are forcing church leaders to look for a new place to worship, Pastor Dusty Arenson said.

“We’ve had many buildings over the years … and this building is the most beautiful of all,” said parishioner Shaunna Harding. “But (the building) really doesn’t matter. God will continue to work in us.”

Due to an estate auction on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., the doors of the church building will be closed permanently.

The farewell service and lunch on Sunday gave Vineyard parishioners a chance to share memories and look forward. Arenson said services will be suspended in September as Vineyard’s leadership team prays and considers next steps.

“We need this time, this space, to breathe, to pause and to decide what to do next,” he said during the service.

Although they don’t meet as a large group, Arenson encouraged Vineyard members to gather for Bible study, prayer and meals. For worship services, he said, members can visit other churches in Yakima.

“Vineyard is about the Kingdom of God, not just Vineyard (church),” he added. “We work with other churches in our community to build the Kingdom of God.”

More than a century of history

The history of the stone church building, in which more than 100 people gathered on Sundays, goes back at least 116 years.

Construction began in 1907, when Joe Melini, a Swiss stonemason who had helped build the nearby courthouse and the Donald House in downtown Yakima, helped erect the church’s stone walls, according to a published history of the First Christian Church of Yakima.

This congregation held services at the corner of Third and B Streets for more than 90 years until 1999, when it merged with the nearby Congregational Christian Church to form the United Christian Church of Yakima. A year later, the newly formed UCC congregation began meeting at 317 S. 41st Street in Terrace Heights.

The Vineyard Christian Fellowship has held services in the old stone church building for 24 years since purchasing it on August 6, 2000. Previously, the Vineyard held its services in other locations, including Yakima Valley College.

In addition to using the 5,000-square-foot facility for worship, the Vineyard Church building also houses the Sunrise Outreach Center, which provides food and support to the homeless, and the Catalyst Coffee Shop on the west side.

The Sunrise Outreach Center held its last food distribution in the church building on Thursday, August 22nd and moved its food distribution to a new location at 10 N. Sixth Ave. on August 23rd and 24th. For updates on the center’s weekly food distribution, visit its Facebook page.

Catalyst Coffee will remain at its current location for at least another month, “hopefully until October,” said owners James and Alaena Stahl. Check their website and Facebook page for updated information.

The insurance question

The decision to leave the Vineyard Church building was ultimately made two months ago when the church’s insurer gave church leaders a 60-day notice and explained that the church’s insurance would be canceled if the building’s outdated electrical system was not fully upgraded, Arenson said.

In a message to the community posted on Vineyard’s website, Arenson discussed the problems with the electrical system and the increasing costs of maintaining an aging building.

“It takes a lot of work and maintenance/management by incredibly dedicated people (to preserve the building),” Arenson wrote. “Despite these herculean efforts, there are still some holes in our old ship.”

The electrical system consists of an old system with screw fuses and fabric-wrapped cables, he wrote.

“For the past 24 years, we have looked at the possibility of replacing it, but the cost has always been between $40,000 and $50,000, which is prohibitive,” Arenson added.

The pastoral care team immediately tried to find other insurance options and contacted electricians to find solutions, he said. Even if loans were obtained to finance the electrical work, the upgrade would take at least four to six months, well beyond the insurance company’s deadline.

Repairs to the roof and other infrastructure are also needed, Arenson said before Sunday’s service.

“It’s no exaggeration to say we could take out a $1 million loan and put it into the building and still not get all the things that need to be fixed,” he said.

Arenson and Vineyard member Deb Palmer noted that their congregation is not alone. Across the country, many churches struggle to maintain insurance coverage on older buildings.

Next Steps

The prohibitive cost and timeframe for electrical and other improvements prompted Vineyard’s leadership team to search for a new location for the church and close the sanctuary on Saturday, August 31, following the sale of the property.

Arenson said the building will be listed with a local real estate agent and is already for sale. After Sunday’s service, congregants began removing books, old clothing and other items from the building. The windows will be boarded up to protect the stained glass windows.

“Unfortunately, this is necessary to protect the building and the historic stained glass windows,” Arenson added. “We already have one or two windows broken every month, even though we are active in the building.”

Palmer offered an eloquent farewell to the Vineyard Church building in an article published on Medium.com, noting that while church members are optimistic about finding a new home for their growing family, leaving the beautiful, historic building is “a time of sadness.”

“It’s just a building. But it’s the place where I met Jesus,” Palmer wrote. “It holds a wealth of memories for me – healings of body and mind, potlucks, revelations, greetings to new friends, goodbyes to old ones, sweet worship, weddings, baptisms, bittersweet memorial services honoring those we’ve lost.”

She also noted that eliminating costly maintenance on an aging building would free up more resources for the parish’s ministry to Yakima’s poor and homeless – thousands of people who need food and other assistance.

“Currently, more than half of the church funds go to the maintenance of this building,” Palmer wrote. “Can you imagine what a blessing we could be if we weren’t burdened with plumbing, roofing and electricity bills?

She acknowledged that the building has no air conditioning and old radiators, adding: “What about the money we spend on heating every winter? How will it feel when we no longer have to worry about high heating bills in the winter and sticky pews in the summer?”

Updates on the search for a new place of worship and other Vineyard Christian Fellowship developments are available on the church’s Facebook page and website, yakimavineyard.com.