Christmas preparations at Lake Washington Christian Church are already in full swing, with parishioners ready to trim the holiday tree, organizing caroling groups and asking for donations of hot apple cider for children practicing for an annual Christmas Pageant.

But their preparations will be taking place far from their Kingsgate chapel, slated for demolition to make way for a state highway construction project.

Lake Washington’s pastor Reverend Kerry Grogan recently announced state highway agency WSDOT would acquire the church property, which abuts the northbound lanes of Interstate 405, by the end of the year. WSDOT used its power of eminent domain to force the sale for two construction projects related to congestion relief on the busy freeway.

“We try to be a community presence and that’s one of the reasons we’d like to stay here,” Grogan said.

Denise Cieri, project director for the I-405 project, said the church would be purchased for $1.55 million and offered up to $50,000 in relocation costs and realtor services. Engineers determined the reconstruction of the 132nd Street bridges for the north- and south-bound lanes, scheduled for fall 2009, required 3,000 square-feet of the 61,000 square-foot church property. The second project, the construction of a north-bound on-ramp connecting 132nd Street to I-405, would use up the rest of the land. The on-ramp construction is set to begin in 2013.

“We do have a program for relocation re-establishment,” Cieri said. “Churches are just not that common to relocate — It’s a lot simpler to relocate a single family than a church.”

Their final worship at the chapel, near the intersection of 132nd Street and 116th Avenue, is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 30 and a final moving day on Dec. 2. The parish plans to continue their worship by sharing space at the Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church near Fourth Avenue and State Street South.

Lake Washington Christian Church, a Protestant Church affiliated with the Disciples of Christ denomination, has about 125 members in the Kingsgate area. The congregation is closely linked to several other churches through the ecumenical community organizations such as Kirkland Interfaith Network (KIN), Greater Kirkland Ecumenical Parish (GKEP) and Kirkland Interfaith Transitions in Housing (KITH). According to Grogan, the church also hosts the Boy Scouts of America Troop 579, several Alcoholics Anonymous groups and does its own outreach efforts by putting together emergency health kits and Thanksgiving baskets for the needy.

The church held their first services in Kirkland on Oct. 7, 1984, according to a dedication plaque that adorns the chapel. But until their place of worship was erected in 1992, they met at Juanita High School and Kamiakin Junior High School.

Unfortunately — only a few short years after celebrating their 20th Anniversary — Lake Washington Christian is once again seeking a home. When WSDOT approached the church in 2006, the church organized a committee to investigate alternatives, including a possible court battle.

“Our lawyer said that would probably take a lot of time and money,” she said, “and we’d probably end up losing anyways.”

Instead, the church agreed to the forced sale and found their new home at Northlake, which they will settle into on Dec. 6 with a Christmas tree trimming party.

For more information, visit the church’s Web site at www.lwchristian.org.

began looking in Kirkland for a property to build anew. High prices and a shortage of suitable building lots in the city have made the two-year search testing. In what was seen as their best opportunity in months, a recent offer for the Christian Science Church on 15th Avenue was declined.

“Property on the entire Eastside is expensive,” Grogan said.

The members have slowly been saying goodbye to the old location, holding a commemoration Oct. 26 and helping every Sunday since to box up the church’s belongings.

Lake Washington Christian members will settle into their new home at Northlake on Saturday, Dec. 6 to trim the parish’s Christmas Tree. For more information, visit the church’s Web site at www.lwchristian.org.