Grace City Church Breaks Ground for Permanent Home

Grace City Church celebrated it's 10th anniversary Sunday with a groundbreaking ceremony on property the church purchased in recent years for it's first permanent home.

Pastor Josh McPherson says a leadership team visited 40 churches around the country and noticed most are only open one day a week.  "We thought if we are going to build something, let's build something the community can use" said McPherson.  He said the goal was to "repurpose the building to be used as a gift to the community all week long"

Phase 1 of the project will house an events center/worship hall, an academic based pre-school and possible daycare.  McPherson said plans can accommodate a cafe, small business incubator space, children's playgrounds and several outdoor spaces for concerts and weddings.  A separate chapel with a steeple  will be designed for weddings or meeting space.  The back opens up as a stage onto a natural amphitheater at the north end of the property.  Phase 1 construction will encompass a 33, 745 square foot design estimated at just under $10 million dollars.  Over 70% of that was raised by church members in a short fundraising campaign this spring allowing construction to get underway next month.  The construction timetable should have the first phase complete in 2018

Wenatchee Mayor Frank Kuntz was on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony and views the Grace City Church project as an important step for development in Wenatchee's north end. "I just think it's more of a community center. Yes, it is a church but as you can tell by all the people here today, this is a really big deal" said Kuntz  The mayor went on to say "On the north end, we (the City of Wenatchee) are bringing sewer out this way, there are going to be a lot more houses and some apartment out here eventually, probably a retail center as well and this development is a big part of that"

The site is in North Wenatchee on land the church purchased in 2014.  The property on Melody Lane overlooks the Wenatchee Valley and is almost the spot like the vision one of the church founders Greg McPherson envisioned decades ago.  "God put a vision in my heart and my mind of a piece of property on the north end of Wenatchee and it was high so you could see all over Wenatchee and East Wenatchee"  When McPherson's son Pastor Josh McPherson brought him to the site to ask what his father thought of it as a potential site for Grace City's permanent home, the elder McPherson said "this looks like what God put in my heart and I think you should explore what it would take to purchase the property"   On Sunday, Greg McPherson was all smiles as he stood ready with a shovel, ready to to turn over dirt on the new home for Grace City Church.

Here is a video showing Phase 1 design plans on the project.