When Shell Beach resident

Shelley Malcolm learned the Shell Beach Methodist Church on Windward Avenue was likely set to

meet the fate of the wrecking

ball, she knew she couldn't let it happen.

But she also knew that she alone couldn't afford to buy the church and save it from ruins, so

Malcolm enlisted the help of friends Jim Murphy and Garin Sinclair

to help keep the wrecking ball away.

Advertisement

Malcolm, her husband Doug, Murphy and Sinclair joined forces, formed a partnership and bought the church, as well as the adjoining property - the historic one-room Bellevue schoolhouse that was moved from San Luis Obispo to Shell Beach in 1947.

The church was closed and put on the market more than a year ago because of a dwindling membership, according to Methodist Church officials.

“The whole community was heartbroken over the (potential) loss of this lovely building and church,” Malcolm said. “I said, ‘Someone has to buy the building and do something with it.' Jim Murphy and Garin Sinclair didn't even hesitate.”

The two couples plan to open the newly renovated church to the public for use as a community theater, wedding facility, healing center, art show gallery, meeting place and more, Malcolm said.

And today, the church will be rededicated to the community at noon, with an open house to follow.

“We're very excited,” Malcolm said. “It was really a meant-to-be kind of thing. As a woman of faith, I believe that God wanted this building to be here. I still feel like I need to be pinched.”

The couples will run the church and adjacent building, which is still undergoing renovations, as a business, renting out the facility to individuals and groups, to help recoup some of the monthly mortgage payments, Malcolm said.

The church can seat 100 to 150 people, and has four bathrooms. The adjoining schoolhouse can be used

as a staging area for the bride and her bridal party. An adjoining patio also has been constructed between the two buildings.

“I think weddings are going to be the big thing,” she said, adding that the group hosted its first wedding at the church, a Mission-style building, last weekend and it “went really well.”

Malcolm knew that they couldn't

call the church by its original name -Shell Beach Methodist Church - and after some thought, she and Sinclair came up with its new name, “La Perla del Mar,” which translates to “the pearl by the sea.”

“It's like a pearl to us; a little jewel in Shell Beach,” Malcolm said. “We just fell in love (with the name) and no one else was using it.”

The neighborhood has embraced the idea of transforming the former church into a quasi-community center where people can take yoga classes, gather for church services or get married, if they choose, Malcolm said.

She also said she and her partners feel blessed to have been able to save the church and historic schoolhouse, once again opening the buildings to the community.

“If you start losing (the community's history), people don't get to know each other,” Malcolm said. “It's such a

beautiful building, a gorgeous place. We are honored, to say the least.”

Already on calendar at La Perla del Mar, at 205 Windward Ave., are church services, yoga classes, acting classes, voice workshops, art shows and more weddings.

For information about the facility and rental opportunities, call 748-5547 or email laperladelmarchapel@gmail.com.

December 15, 2007