ASHEVILLE – Since the Jubilee! Community moved out of its downtown home of more than three decades last year, it has a message for Asheville: We’re still here.
Jubilee!, an inclusive, independent faith community, relocated to West Asheville’s Rainbow Community School Auditorium in May 2023, a temporary solution following the sale of its longtime home at 46 Wall St.
The building, which has sat empty since Jubilee! moved out, is poised for new tenants, permit filings show, including plans for a digital art gallery and bar by day, and a live music and performance art space in the evening.
Spokesperson Michele Bernhardt told the Citizen Times that Jubilee! will eventually be looking for a dedicated new space and has a permanent senior minister on board for the first time in nearly five years, since the 2019 retirement of founder Howard Hanger.
Stephanie Escher, an ordained Methodist Elder, started in May. Since Escher came, Bernhardt said there’s been an increase in congregants, which they refer to as “Jubilants,” from around 80-90 people since the move, to 100-125. Around 30-50 people typically watch online.
Speaking to what a new senior minister could mean for Jubilee!, Bernhardt said, “We keep the best things about our past, and we explore new opportunities to do new things.”
“The idea of having a senior minister who is both the spiritual leader and the administrator means we have someone who is more fully involved in Jubilee!.”
Escher most recently served as manager of mission and spiritual care in the Midwest Region of Advocate Health, per a June release. She has over over 15 years ministerial and chaplaincy experience, including pastorates at progressive, inclusive United Methodist Churches in Minnesota and Illinois.
“It’s been in honor to just step in to where they are,” Escher said, particularly as Jubilee! explores its identity without the Wall Street location. “(They are) trying to figure out who can they be? Who were they? At the core, what is Jubilee!? … That’s the whole journey of spiritual work, is the constant flourishing.”
What happened to the Wall Street building?
Jubilee! sold its downtown building in May 2023 for $1.9 million to Florida-based Equitas Co. The company told the Citizen Times last year it would manage the property, intending to lease it for office or retail space.
Permits filed with the city in April indicate proposed improvements to the “upper level” of the space, which exits onto Wall Street. Previously occupied by a single tenant, the building is now intended to have separate tenants on each floor.
The project description, dubbed “Third Room,” says the “previous place was a place of worship, and will be changed to a nightclub. Gallery and event space during the day.”
Co-owner of Third Room, Hailey Dellinger, told the Citizen Times July 5 the music and arts venue would be their first location.
The two-story building straddles Wall Street and Patton Avenue, with entrances on each, and was home to the spirit-led faith community since 1989. Jubilee originally rented the downtown building, an old nightclub, until purchasing it in October 1999 for $460,000, according to Buncombe County property records.
The decision to sell the Wall Street building came after Jubilee! found itself without the financial capacity to maintain it. There were a confluence of changes and complications, such as Hanger’s retirement, which came just before the pandemic hit, as well as diminishing membership.
“It was not an easy thing to do,” Bernhardt said of the move.
‘We’re still here’
“Since we relocated to Rainbow Community School Auditorium from downtown Asheville, we have heard locals ask if Jubilee! has closed our doors,” Louise Slater, chair of Jubilee!’s board of directors, said in the release. “The answer to that is a resounding ‘No!’
The misconception really hit them during a February Mardi Gras parade, Bernhardt said. Jubilee! was moving through with its floats, and heard surprise from the crowd, voices calling out — people who hadn’t known they were still around.
“It became really, really obvious that once we had a new minister, we need to elevate our profile,” she said.
“We’re still here. We still are inclusive and embrace everybody … from all spiritual paths.”
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More: Jubilee! to sell its downtown building, home since 1989; temporary move to Rainbow school
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Jubilee! names lead minister; What’s next for its downtown building?