Almost two years ago, a “for sale” sign appeared on the property of Washington Cathedral in Redmond.

The church had built a recreation center on its campus in 2007 to serve the surrounding community, but when the recession hit, things became “a lot more expensive than when (they) started,” said senior pastor Tim White.

As previously reported, the church had owed $14.6 million on the property and the monthly payments of $70,000 were above their capacity to pay at that time.

“We needed a miracle,” said White, who founded the church in 1984 with his wife Jackie.

That miracle came on Christmas Eve last year. Prior to this, White said all of the offers they had received were for much less than what the property was worth, but they were in negotiations with a potential buyer. Then on Dec. 24, 2013, they were contacted by Bellevue Children’s Academy (BCA). The school’s officials were looking to expand and needed a facility to house their fifth- through eighth-grade students.

White said they took the school up on its offer and the church was able to pay off 98 percent of its loans.

BCA now owns the property and all the buildings onsite and has leased the sanctuary — the smaller building located nearest to the street — back to Washington Cathedral. In addition, the church is able to use the large building — the recreation center — on the weekends to hold services.

“We really felt like it was a Christmas miracle for it to come on Christmas Eve,” White said about BCA contacting them and how things have worked out for the church.

Now that Washington Cathedral only has limited access to the large recreation center on the property, the church has used its situation to reach out to the greater community.

Rey Diaz, the church’s lead pastor, said they currently have 12 events this holiday season throughout the Eastside that will help various areas of need such as homeless shelters.

“The idea is to spread the joy,” he said.

In addition, Diaz said the church also has three projects going on abroad in Haiti and Kenya.

White said the church works a lot with the low-income population. Prior to the property sale, he said they would allow homeless people with cars to park their cars in the lot overnight if they needed somewhere to stay. Now that they can no longer offer the space, White said they go into the community to meet with people where they are, which has been more effective in building relationships with people.

“We’re really excited,” he said about the work the church is doing.

White said since the property was sold, they have had a great collaborative relationship with the school, whose Redmond campus is called Willows Preparatory School.

Although the school’s offer came in about a year ago, the sale did not close until June and the school opened its doors in September.

“It’s a great facility for 106 students,” said Frank Grijalva, consulting head and middle school head for Willows Preparatory.

He said it was an unusual find, but it had most of the things they needed and there were only a few changes they had to make, such as adding a commercial kitchen, converting rooms into a science lab, computer center and reception room.

Rande Styger, communication director for the school, said the transition between the church and school has been “seamless” and he described those at the church as “wonderful people.”

The feeling is mutual as White said, “We love the school. It’s a perfect fit for us.”