What appeared to be insurmountable obstacles turned out to be disguised opportunities for the Unity Church of Bainbridge Island.

The church had been given four acres of land off North Madison Avenue as the site of a future church building. But by the time the building permit came, building costs had gone through the roof.

“Our $800,000 church turned into a $1,800,000 church,” Pastor Vici Derrick said. That scotched the dream of a permanent home to replace the rented offices on the west side of Ericksen Avenue which, along with Sunday space at the BPA playhouse, composed the church’s home.

Shortly thereafter, Derrick was talking to a parishioner on the sidewalk in front of the office when they saw a “for sale or rent” sign on the little-used office building across the street, at 750 Ericksen.

They walked over, found the building empty but open, and gave themselves a tour.

“We saw that if you moved a couple of walls from a group of small offices, you could have space for a sanctuary,” Derrick said. “So we started negotiating and here we are.”

The remodeling wasn’t quite as simple as initially supposed. Walls had to be removed as expected, but support beams had to be added as well. Chairs to seat 150 were brought in, and the first services were held in November of last year.

“This time there were no roadblocks. Whatever we needed appeared, which is a good sign that we had aligned ourselves with God’s purpose,” Derrick said.

The building has space for Derrick’s office, and administrative office, an office for volunteers, a bookstore and several classrooms. What had been a mostly glass-enclosed office adjacent to what is now the sanctuary becomes a “quiet room” where attendees can take children out of earshot of the rest of the congregation but still hear and see the services.

In other ways, the building seemed to Derrick like a dream come true.

“I had dreamed of hardwood floors in my office, and when we walked in, one room had hardwood floors. But due to the way the building was laid out, we had to make that the bookstore. The room that was going to be my office had some ratty old carpeting, and when we pulled that up, we found hardwood floors.”

Longer term, Derrick hopes to find a good use for the building during the day. One possibility is for an alternative school, maybe for kids who have had substance-abuse problems, and can’t re-integrate immediately into the public school system.

“One of our members suggested we call it the “spa,” standing for ‘square peg academy,’” Derrick said. “We are absolutely committed to doing something for the young people in this community, not to teach Unity principles but to support their growth.”

Having found a home, the next step is to make it their own, which means exercising their purchase option next August. That involves raising money, an effort that kicked off this past weekend with a car wash and donut sale.

A series of fund-raisers is being planned throughout the year, Derrick said, including an auction, concerts and several workshops.

The Madison Avenue property is on the market, and Derrick hopes that will sell by next August, so that the proceeds can go towards buying the new building.

“My dream is that one of the church groups on the island without a building might be interested, so we can sell not only the land, but a building permit and a set of plans,” she said.

“I hope somebody else can benefit from the work we’ve already done.”