After more than a decade, the Durango Vineyard Church finally has a place to call its own. But church leaders prefer to think of it as a space to call the community’s.
The Vineyard Church closed on its purchase of the former Stephanie Morris Nissan dealership at 20704 U.S. Highway 160 in west Durango for $2.4 million on Monday.
Senior pastor Daniel “DJ” Jergensen is elated.
He said church members helped raise the money to buy the property.
The former automotive garage is about 10,000 square feet and rests on 2 acres off U.S. 160 directly west of a bus stop outside a Maverick gas station. Behind the building is a spacious gravel lot that recedes into a grassy and wooded area along Lightner Creek.
Jergensen said the church has never had a permanent home since its founding in 2013. But it’s improvised and made do. The first service was held in Jergensen’s living room.
Nobody went, he said.
But gradually, week after week, more people showed up. It started with DJ’s neighbors and grew from there. Now, the congregation is about 150 members large.
Over the years, services have been held weekly on Wednesdays at the Durango Community Recreation Center, five other churches, a wedding venue, Escalante Middle School and River Bend Ranch.
“Our community is pretty opportunistic and pretty scrappy and resourceful, which is awesome because you sort of know the direction and the heart behind what we want to do,” said Brian Firle, pastor.
Brian Firle’s wife, Lisa, playfully said she is the church’s “visionary extraordinaire” – she is leading the charge in dreaming up ways to turn the old auto shop into a vibrant community space open to church members and the greater community alike.
She said there are too few community event spaces in the city, and the Vineyard Church hopes to rectify that, in addition to potentially accommodating child care services, weddings, children’s plays, concerts and a slew of other things.
Nothing is set in stone, but the possibilities are boundless.
“We only need it for ourselves a couple hours a week,” Jergensen said. “What a travesty it would be if it just sat empty the (rest of the time).”
The former Nissan dealership will make for a great community space, whatever the church decides to do with it, Lisa said. Large bay doors leading into the old garage make bringing in furniture, decorations and props a breeze.
Brian and Lisa said they don’t imagine packing the roomy garage with traditional church pews. They picture tables and chairs that are easy to pack up and put down as needed.
Brian said he’d like to select a few services or accommodations and focus on providing them. No matter what, the church plans to serve the people who need help most.
“It's always going to be focused on how do we serve the greater needs of our city and community, but also any sort of person who is marginalized or under-resourced,” he said. “Those are the people that our hearts should be breaking for: the people that don't have access to the things that many of us do.”
Jergensen said his vision for the church was simple. He wanted to create a place that felt like it’s “aligned with Jesus.”
“All the wrong people were attracted to him (Jesus). All the people that were not religious and were not doing life right according to the Jewish and the Roman standards. And they flocked to Jesus because of his love and his message of grace,” he said. “We just wanted to follow that.”
Generally speaking, Brian said churches are a means for people to gather around a shared sense of culture, identity and lifestyle. But that inherently creates a degree of exclusivity.
To accept one culture and say “yes” to it is to say “no” to alternatives, he said. The Vineyard Church aims not only to draw people together, but also to face outwardly and serve the community.
He hopes the community doesn’t view the church’s purchase of the former dealership as a grab for a space for members to hold “holy huddles” in private.
“We don't want this just to be the Durango Vineyard Church building that's used for our services exclusively (on) Wednesday nights. That’s so ridiculous. That vision of a church building use, I think, is really uninspiring,” he said.
The Vineyard Church certainly is no stranger to serving the community, even when it lacked its own property to congregate.
At the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, the church sponsored six Ukrainian families and refugees who moved to Durango, Jergensen said. Church members helped the refugees secure jobs, homes and supplies.
Several years ago, the church supplied unhoused residents with heaters through the winter. About 50 church members pitched in. Once a week, members would restock the heaters with propane.
“There were folks just dying of (the) cold,” Jergensen said. “We just one day said, ‘Well, what can we do to help?’ There's not going to be a community shelter for these folks.”
He said the church isn’t judgmental or political. It doesn’t take sides on issues or preach right and wrong to residents.
“We’re here to just serve people,” he said.
The Vineyard Church’s reputation may precede it, and not necessarily always in the way members would like.
In 2023, the church was exploring the possibility of purchasing the former Basin Printing building at 1453 East Second Ave. But rumors quickly started to fly that the church would “BRING THE HOMELESS TO THE BASIN PRINTING BUILDING,” as stated in a flyer posted by one resident.
Jergensen said the church had no intention of turning the Basin Printing building into a homeless shelter.
Still, the city denied Vineyard Church’s permit application. The church appealed the decision, but was denied again. The basis for denial was assembly use for services was incompatible with the predominant single-family residential land uses on the block; and parking did not meet requirements.
The failed pursuit of the Basin Printing building didn’t keep Vineyard Church down, however. Jergensen said the congregation is excited to have sealed the deal on the former Nissan property.
The success also represents the greater church community working together. He said the Vineyard Church wouldn’t currently exist if it weren’t for five churches that allowed it to use their spaces for services and meetings.
There are still renovations to be done. Jergensen said the church is accepting donations that will help with minor reconstruction – knocking down some walls and removing auto repair equipment that was left behind in the garage.
cburney@durangoherald.com
