Fine china went to refugee families. Toilets and hand dryers went to other churches. Pews went to woodworking classes.
And, so far, $1.25 million from the sale of the church itself has gone to nonprofits focused on housing and homelessness, church officials say.
As Salt Lake City’s First Congregational Church closed its doors and moved about three minutes up the road to its new home with All Saints Episcopal Church, the congregation decided it could do some good for the community as it starts its next chapter.
The outreach board decided that half the proceeds from the sale of the church would go to nonprofits focused on housing, homelessness and hunger, said Glenda LeHoux, part of the church’s caring ministry team.
Housing, in particular, is central to ensuring people can meet all their needs, LeHoux said. “If you don’t have a home or you can’t afford any of the homes that are there, everything kind of snowballs,” she said, and then people cannot take care of other issues.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Glenda LeHoux, Cissy Wolff, Pastor Doug Gray and Louise York, at the First Congregational Church, on Friday, June 27, 2025.
So far, the church has donated $1 million to Friendship Manor and $250,000 to The INN Between.
Both have themes that tie in with faith, said the Rev. Douglas Gray, pastor at First Congregational, namely having a place to belong and loving one another.
“Everybody needs to eat. Everybody needs to sleep,” Gray said. “And everybody needs a place to do that.”
Small, but mighty
First Congregational Church sold its building after the congregation shrank from its 1970s high of 350 to 450 members to fewer than 100, with just 25 to 35 regular attendees.
Taking care of the building was wearing people out, Gray said, and it came down to what was at the center of the church’s mission – the building or the people.
While there is some grieving now that the congregation is “unshackled” from the building and sharing space with All Saints, he said, there is also joy.
And parts of the church did come with the congregation to their new home at All Saints Episcopal — including the original pulpit from the 1800s meetinghouse, a cross that was cut down to size for the room where the congregation now meets, a throne-like chair and stained-glass panels.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Original pulpit from Independence Hall at the First Congregational Church Friday, June 27, 2025.
Other parts of the church building are spread strategically through the community, said Cissy Wolff, who sits on the church council.
All Saints Episcopal and Wasatch Presbyterian took a lot of items, woodworking teachers received pews and other wooden items, a 240-piece place setting went to Catholic Community Services for refugee families and furniture went to The Other Side Academy.
And though the congregation is smaller, that doesn’t stop its members from doing good in the community, said Louise York, who heads the church’s outreach board.
“We’re a small group,” she said, “but we are mighty.”
That’s especially true, she said, when the congregation isn’t worrying about boilers and leaking roofs.
Upgrades, more rooms
With those concerns addressed by the move, members now have money to spend on others.
Members recently voted to donate $1 million to Friendship Manor, a retirement community that also serves people with disabilities, and The INN Between, which provides medical respite and end-of-life care for the unhoused.
Around half the 178 units at Friendship Manor are affordable, LeHoux said, with some people paying as little as $100 while others pay closer to market value.
She constantly hears from people who move in that it feels like a community, she said, with other residents knowing newcomers’ names within the week.
Friendship Manor has indicated it will use the money on upgrades, York said, like bringing some rooms into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and fixing plumbing issues.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Inn Between, a medical respite center for people experiencing homelessness, begins vaccinating its entire staff and its residents on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021.
The INN Between plans to use the money to open about 17 more rooms, York said. That might help them serve 70 more people a year.
There’s money left to spend, York said, and there’s a three-year plan for outreach.
That includes work beyond spending the proceeds from the church sale, York said. Each month, the congregation focuses on a program or charity, York said, and donates not just money but also time through volunteering and helping with activities.
Bells and sandwiches
The old building itself also will be part of helping with housing efforts, though not in the way the congregation initially hoped.
“We really wanted to influence affordable housing,” Wolff said.
Though the congregation initially hoped to partner with the city or a developer on affordable housing, that ended up not being possible, she said.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) First Congregational Church in Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Instead, the group sold the building to a developer.
The developer did not immediately respond to The Salt Lake Tribune about a potential demolition date or any planned projects. But church members indicated the plan is still to raze the building to make way for a housing project.
Meanwhile, First Congregational is setting down roots in its new home.
The two congregations have enough people jointly for a bell choir and can make about 1,000 sandwiches in 45 minutes together for the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall.
Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.