Buyer sought for historic West Berkeley church

Photo: Daniella Thompson, 2004

Westminster Presbyterian Church, which changed hands last year, is on the market again. The third landmark designated by the City of Berkeley, the church at 926 Hearst Ave. and Eighth Street is the second oldest in town, having been built in 1879—a year after the neighboring Church of the Good Shepherd went up.

The church was designed by Charles Geddes, architect of Yosemite Chapel. The adjoining assembly hall was designed by Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. and constructed in 1914.

In 1972, it became St. Procopius Latin Rite Church (unaffiliated with the Roman Catholic Church), and in 1993, it was taken over by the Mekane Selam Medhane Alem Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Having outgrown its quarters, Medhane Alem last year sold the church to the Pentecostal congregation New Word of Faith. The current asking price is $1,700,000, and Medhane Alem’s board chairman Benyam Mulugeta is handling the sale. He may be contacted at (650) 906-8012.