Grief
Goodbye, Yakima Vineyard Church Building
Teardrops on the church pews
Pastor Dusty Arenson’s words floated over the congregation, replacing cheerful chatter with an anticipatory hush —
“We have devastating news.”
The final service at our 116-year-old majestic building will be on the 25th of this month, after which the doors will close on the 31st.
He said we’d received a letter from the insurance company stating they could no longer insure our old church.
The news was abrupt, leaving our church leaders in a frantic rush to call lawyers, plead with insurance companies, crunch, and re-crunch numbers, scavenging for any hope of remaining at this location.
The cold fact? Even if we take out a million-dollar loan to fix electrical and plumbing issues, it will not be enough to appease the insurance companies.
Worse yet, we are not the only church facing the insurance company’s grim reaper.
According to an Associated Press article published on July 23, 2024, this is happening across the country.
The article explains that the church market, like the entire insurance industry, has faced significant challenges recently.
