“We’re Dying, but They’re Rising”: A Lutheran Church Sells Its Building to the Congregation in Its Basement

• Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church in north Spokane sold its building to St Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Church for about $550,000.
• The land at 4202 North Belt Street is valued at about $1.2 million.
• St Mary’s had worshipped in Messiah’s basement for more than four years.
• Messiah, there for 73 years, fell from 1,000 members in 1974 to fewer than 10 regular attendees.

A shrinking Lutheran congregation in Spokane has passed its building to the growing church that had been meeting beneath it. The Spokesman-Review reported that Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church has sold its building to St Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

The property at 4202 North Belt Street, where Messiah worshipped for 73 years, sold for about $550,000, although the land is valued at about $1.2 million. Messiah had about 1,000 members in 1974; it now has fewer than 10 regular attendees. St Mary’s congregation had worshipped in Messiah’s basement for more than four years and had outgrown the space.

Pastor Bob Kenyon said: “We’re dying, but they’re rising. Why shouldn’t they have it?” He added: “It’s only right. Seems to me that’s really the way it should be.” Dagnachew Uma of St Mary’s church council described the difficulty of sharing: “Our kids run around, they shout, they scream. It is really difficult to kind of coexist.”

Messiah is giving away much of the proceeds: $230,000 to a scholarship fund for pastors, $100,000 split between Lutherhaven Ministries, Second Harvest and Christ Kitchen, and $40,000 to other organisations including Lutheran Social Services and Meals on Wheels.

Selling below market value to another congregation is a choice some churches make to keep a building in use for worship. Messiah accepted about $550,000 for a property whose land alone is valued at more than twice that, and turned the proceeds into gifts. Jamaican congregations that are closing could consider similar handovers to growing churches, including diaspora or immigrant congregations abroad. Where a sale is below market, it is wise to record the reasons and get legal advice, so that trustees can show they acted properly.

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