Bethany Presbyterian housing project taking shape

Bethany Presbyterian housing project taking shape

News Story by John McCallum | FāVS News

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Dec. 17 to include information about the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines grant approval.

The congregation received additional good news in December when the Rebuilding Team posted in the church newsletter that they had received approval for a $3 million grant request to the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Des Moines. The request was made through Banner Bank.

According to information on its website, FHLB Des Moines has awarded $895 million to “provide affordable housing opportunities to more than 127,000 families and individuals” since the program’s inception in 1990.

“We are close to having full funding for the apartments, church & community space,” Rebuilding Team member Brian Royer wrote. “This funding is being secured faster than I have ever seen! Is there a message here?”

Many people are familiar with the phrase, “The Lord works in mysterious ways.” Those same people, however, might not envision one way of doing that work would involve turning a tragedy into something good.

But that is exactly the place Spokane’s Bethany Presbyterian Church found itself in after a two-alarm blaze on Jan. 2, 2022, heavily damaged the sanctuary of the Lincoln Heights area building. While the church’s insurance company indicated it would cover restoring the building to its original condition, church leaders and congregation members felt called to do something different — something more in line with Jesus’s directive to help those less fortunate in life.

That something was reaching outward to help “the least of us” by building affordable housing for low-income families and refugees.

Considering different building options

In the weeks and months that followed Bethany began church cleanup and restoration, which meant engaging with the insurance company to cover costs. However, they found themselves in disputes with the insurer over replacement and cleanup costs — a battle that continues even now.

“At one time or another, a number of us have had difficulty collecting on an insurance claim,” Bethany Rebuilding Team member Ron Arkills wrote in a report on the church’s website updating the congregation after an Oct. 9, 2022, team meeting.

“That is (the) church’s situation right now,” Arkills continued. “After all, insurance companies are not charitable organizations and can be stingy.”

Prior to that meeting, the congregation met several times to discuss the possibility of taking a new direction with restoration. They gathered at Hamblen Park Presbyterian on May 9 to discern about the church’s mission and future, and again on July 7 to discuss options for the building endorsed by the church’s Session — including a possible mixed-use project on the site consisting of the church building and apartment units.

‘Doing the hard thing‘

Rebuilding Team and Bethany Visioning Team member Sharon Rodkey Smith said the first conversations around this concept “didn’t go well.” Smith said there was a lot “shouting, anger” at the meetings, with hard feelings and dug-in positions on both sides.

After one meeting, Smith received a phone call from a congregation member and board member who was among the loudest of those opposed to the mixed-use project.

“On the way home, he said he began thinking about the church and its mission and came to the conclusion the concept was really solid,” she said.

After that, Smith said they had a lot of “listening, what-if sessions” as they began putting ideas together.

“Right now, it’s all in,” she said.

Presbytery of the Inland Northwest (PIN) Land Stewardship guide Drew Peterson said many churches in a similar position would have taken the easy path, letting the insurance company pay for restoring the church to its original condition. Most churches’ members have strong feelings toward their buildings, as they are where good memories happen such as weddings, baptisms, celebrations and community fellowship.

Parting with these structures can seem like sacrificing memories, identity and purpose.

But Peterson said giving away and leaning into “the sacrificial spirit” is what Jesus asks of his followers — looking after others before looking after yourself. After a lot of congregational discernment, discussion and research, Bethany adopted this approach

Instead of looking inward, they’re reaching outward.

“They decided to do the hard thing,” Peterson, who is also pastor at Knox Presbyterian, said. “Who Jesus is for, is always for people on the outsides.”

Missional pivot: Living out Matthew 25

Bethany’s “all in” tactic shifted in October 2022.

In an Oct. 16, 2022, Rebuilding Team report, Smith noted the congregation had “been circling around the needs of refugees in the Spokane area” for some time, listing a number of examples of church outreach. These efforts included sponsoring a refugee family, working with the World Relief in Spokane to meet needs, collecting laundry and house cleaning supplies for refugee families and providing funds to purchase gifts during the holiday season.

Smith also reminded readers Bethany has been known for years as “open and affirming” in its work with the LGBTQIA+ community; so much so that it is now a natural part of their mission. Further discussions with PIN Missional Expeditor and Cyclical Co-Director Katie Stark, the various teams and the congregation led to a “missional pivot” toward helping refugees.

“It seemed natural, after our fire, to dream of helping this city provide housing for ‘the least of these,’” Smith wrote, referencing a Scripture passage from Matthew 25.

According to its webpage, Bethany Presbyterian Church identifies itself as a “Matthew 25 Church.” The Matthew 25 Initiative is a movement of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that asks congregations to “perform ordinary acts of compassion in daily life” in line with the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46, “in which Jesus makes clear, that what we do matters to God and how we treat others is important to God.”

The missional shift helped Bethany’s focus, which is now about providing affordable and sustainable housing for low-income and refugee families. That opened up the possibilities for expanded partnerships that could transform a vision into a reality.

Partnering on a vision

Bethany’s Rebuilding Team held its first project vision meeting on April 6, 2023, at Knox Presbyterian Church, where they are currently renting space. That meeting featured representatives from commercial real estate developer Kiemle & Hagood, ZBA Architecture, PIN, low-income apartment manager Proclaim Liberty and Thrive International, an organization providing temporary refugee housing, education and empowerment programs.

A second meeting took place on May 3, 2023, and included additional representatives from the Lincoln Heights Council, Spokane Public Schools, a nearby church, neighborhood residents, KinderCare and the city of Spokane and Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson.

Smith said Wilkerson told the gathering she became interested in the project after driving by the church’s location at Ray and 26th Avenue and seeing the congregation worshipping outside in the parking lot. Wilkerson asked her staff about ways to help the church realize its new mission, something Smith said was very encouraging.

“That’s been helpful because there have been some dark days in this project,” she added.

The regular meetings began to produce the form of a housing project to fit the needs the church and its partners identified as well as the space on which it can be built. The efforts feature ZBA working on design and construction, Kiemle & Hagood pursuing financing with Thrive and Proclaim Liberty contributing expertise in the area of affordable housing.

“We’re working with people who know the system, who know the process and have a heart for low-income housing,” Smith said.

Assembling the pieces

In the year-plus since those initial visioning meetings in 2023, the project has morphed in size and function. Currently, 22 units are proposed in two separate buildings on one portion of the lot, with courtyards, parking and useable family space.

Smith said the housing complex will be managed by Proclaim Liberty, a PIN organization started in 1971 and currently manages Liberty Park Apartments, a 48-unit low-income complex built in 1974 in the South Perry District. Thrive International will have six units for use with refugees while Family Promise will utilize five units for its mission of helping the homeless with housing.

The existing church on the other portion of the property would be demolished and a new structure built in its place. This building will function as a worship space and a community center for the complex and possibly the neighborhood.

Besides the narthex and sanctuary, the church building would also include office space, meeting/classroom spaces and a kitchen that could be used by the church and the apartment complex residents as well.

Costs likely to change

Smith said a July media story indicating Bethany had submitted plans for the project was incorrect, and the $9.5 million project cost referenced was an estimate and is likely to change. Erin Hut, city of Spokane director of Communications and Marketing, confirmed the city has yet to receive any plans or permit applications for the project.

What was held was a pre-development conference on Aug. 29 where project architects and representatives met with city Planning and Development Department staff to discuss technical aspects of the project, including zoning adjustments to accommodate multifamily use.

Added to the project vision is childcare. A report on the church’s website in June indicated the Rebuilding Team had learned of a need for childcare from Thrive and Reclaim Liberty and had been in discussions with Community Minded Enterprises (CME), who “is willing to do the feasibility research, provide the necessary information to the grant writer and the architect, coordinate the selection of a provider and continue the partnership to ensure long term success.”

“We’re ecstatic about that,” Smith said of CME’s participation.

She added including a childcare facility is an involved process that would increase the cost of the project.

“It (childcare facility) could be $8 million alone,” Smith said. “The whole campus, I don’t know.”

Where some of the funding comes from

While the vision Bethany has for its affordable housing project is taking shape, making it happen requires funding. That too, is taking shape.

The church is hoping to use its insurance payment for the cost of the fire toward the project. In June the company offered just over $1 million, something Smith said the church wasn’t satisfied with and were working with attorneys to change.

If a childcare facility is included, there is state-level funding available through Early Learning Facilities Funds that could provide up to $1.2 million toward to the project. Peterson with Presbytery of the Inland Northwest said they are also looking at a financial involvement, including funding from a Lily Grant the Presbytery received in 2023 for church initiatives of this nature.

Bethany received good news in August that it had been awarded $2,142,111 in HOME grant funds from the city of Spokane. Hut said the funds come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and are contingent upon Bethany receiving additional funding.

“In other words, we’ve earmarked the funding for them, but will only release these funds if Bethany secures the rest of the funding,” Hut said. 

“It is refreshing to learn that Bethany Presbyterian is stepping up to address one of the biggest needs in our community,” Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson said in a prepared statement. “The church recognizes the city’s housing shortage and seeks to contribute to the solution through a new and innovative affordable housing project utilizing HOME funds. If the project receives full funding, I look forward to its completion.”

Paying for ‘something magnificent‘

Peterson praised Bethany’s congregation for its desire after the fire to look outward to help the community, along with its process to discern a new mission. Churches undertaking such an endeavor sometimes focus heavily on minute details rather than the overall vision, one of the reasons these projects often don’t happen.

“They’re (Bethany) the pioneers,” Peterson said. “They’re the ones doing the hard work of the faithful.”

Smith acknowledged the project is slow in taking shape, including finding the financing, but added other organizations are expressing a desire to come on board to use the proposed facility. That could lead to additional financing for the fire-created vision.

“What it will be in the end, will be magnificent,” she said.