St. Michael's Mission - Yakima marks 140 years

 

Three events at St. Michael's Episcopal Mission in Yakima this fall recognize the church's past, present and future as it celebrates its 140 years of ministry.

At a Sept 28 worship service, it celebrated the mission's founding in 1885 in its present building. It is the oldest continuous congregation in Yakima still worshiping in its original building, said David Hacker, vicar at St. Michael's.

The Rt. Rev Gretchen Rehberg, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, joined the church for worship and a reception, in which attendees shared stories of their involvement in St. Michael's over the years, looked toward the future and donated to the church's capital or operating funds in honor of the anniversary.

At 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25, St. Michael's Mission will hold its annual Dinner and Auction raising funds to celebrate both its 140 years and its ongoing ministries.

St Michael's hosts a weekly food pantry, weekly and monthly community meals and daily AA groups. The Yakima Neighborhood Health Services shower trailer is there Wednesdays. Other community partners use St. Michael's for programs serving the community.

On From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday Nov. 8, St. Michael's will cut a ribbon to celebrate the completion of its Solar plus Storage Project. 

"With funding from Washington State's Climate Commitment Act, St. Michael's installed 142 solar panels and battery storage to equip the historic building to meet current and future environmental challenges," said David.

"This system will handle our current electrical load and increase our capacity for expansion as we transition our old gas boiler system to a heat pump," he said. "In addition, we seek funding for other energy efficiency projects."

The battery storage will provide St Michael's with a couple days of power in case of outages.

"With this system, St. Michael's seeks to model sustainable energy and efficiently operate this building that provides so much ministry to our community," David added. "In addition, we will grow our ability to be a resiliency hub in times of extreme weather and other emergencies.

"Washington's Climate Commitment Act (CCA) supports climate action efforts by putting to use cap-and-invest dollars to reduce climate pollution, create jobs and improve public health," he said.

For information, call 453-4881, email stmichaelsyak@gmail.com and visit climate.wa.gov.