Time for a revival: Church opens in Rosalia

Remember the old Christian Church in Rosalia?

The church had its last fellowship meeting almost two decades ago. There was a large congregation, back in the day.

The building has gone through many different operations over those years. It was on the verge of collapsing. The roof and walls were in grave repair. The city of Rosalia was able to restore the roof.

Not long ago, Leroy Wheeler acquired the building and began repairing the interior and parts of the exterior. There was a massive amount of damage inside the church. There were broken pipes, water damage, brick and stone damage, flooding, missing equipment and parts, items that had to be replaced, just to mention a few. He has done a great job of restoring the old church. His passion is restoring old buildings in Washington and Idaho.

Last week Pastor Mike Hill and Leroy Wheeler met at the church for a tour. Pastor Mike attended that church from the mid ’70s to the early ’80s and wanted to see the restored version. After a long tour and reminiscing, the question came up of what was to become of the building. Leroy wanted to see the building become a church again at some point.

This sparked another conversation.

Pastor Mike is no stranger to reviving churches (congregations that is). As he describes it, “The church is the body of Christ, the ekklesia, a Greek word, meaning the called out ones of God — or the congregation.”

He has led several churches through rough times from Oregon to Idaho. He said that, “Some are successfully revived and some are not.”

Pastor Mike is preaching at the church in Malden. Pastor Mike says, “God saved the church from the fire and revived it, God asked me to do my part of preaching and teaching — so I am.”

The Malden Community Church is now meeting every Sunday at noon. Some attending come from as far as Cheney and Garfield.

The “no-brainer” moment came to both Leroy and Pastor Mike that they should combine their efforts to revive not only the church building, but a congregation as well.

Pastor Mike said, “That is how revival starts, God moves in miraculous ways and we join Him with our gifts and talents.”

The church will take on a new name to include “Christian Church” to be consistent with its original name and plaque on the outside of the church. The church will be meeting every Sunday from now on, starting at 10 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 3.

A revival of two old churches in two rural towns at the same time. The Malden Community Church, built in 1908, meeting at noon every Sunday. The Open Door Christian Church in Rosalia, built in 1910, meeting at 10 a.m. every Sunday