Gardenia Center to host final service

SANDPOINT — It will be the end of an era this weekend when the final Sunday service is held at the Gardenia Center.

That service will take place at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 12. The news follows the recent sale of the center, which had leased the building from Marilyn Chambers until her passing in November 2021. In March, Gardenia Center officials were notified by her heirs that they planned to put the building up for sale.

Chambers founded the center in the mid-1980s as a non-denominational community space for people to come together and worship. She devoted her life to her spiritual journey, and it was her dream to create a place that both served and welcomed everyone, according to family members in her obituary.

Since Chambers' passing, the board has kept the center functioning as a community building and a gathering place for Sunday services.

The building has been used for Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and other similar groups as well as weddings, memorials, birthday parties, and numerous community gatherings.

At Sunday's service, Mark Reiner will be the speaker, and Caren Reiner and Beth Pederson perform the music. 

After almost 40 years of service to the community, center officials said they hope the many people the center has helped will attend the final goodbye. A part of the service will include individuals expressing what the Gardenia Center meant to them. Afterward, there will be a short Peace Garden meditation, followed by coffee and cookies. 

"Please come while the Gardenia Center and Peace Garden still remain as a place of beauty and connection to God and the community," center officials said in a press release.