Commission to decide future of community stone church

The future of the Coulee Dam Community Presbyterian Church will likely be decided sometime in 2016.

The decision is up to a Presbytery Commission, made up of a handful of people that includes former Pastor Muriel Brown of Ellensburg, who chairs the group, and local elder Jerry Kennedy.

Kennedy said Friday that the commission takes over responsibility for the church Jan. 1.

The local congregation plans a Christmas Eve service and another service Dec. 27. After that, the local congregation will be disbanded.

Kennedy said the heat will remain on and the church will be taken care of during this transition.

He said that no meetings have been scheduled as yet to talk about the disposition of the stone church.

The cornerstone of the church was set in 1951, and church history states that there were 20,000 stones used to build the edifice.

The Eastern Washington Presbytery has recently joined with the North Coast unit due to other churches that have closed.