LEWISTON – The Good News Chapel of Lewiston gave away $105,000 to local nonprofits Sunday afternoon in a tearful, yet joyous dinner at the Ramada Inn.

Forced to close its doors because of declining membership, the Rev. Paul Bernard and the eldest members of the Good News Chapel made a group decision to give the profits from the sale of their building on Lisbon Street to people in need.

“The ministries represented here are all in need of financial assistance,” Bernard said in his opening statement.

Dolly Poisson, a deaconess with the chapel, was grieving over the closure of the church, but said, “It is so good to see these people receiving this gift because now they can go out and do more.”

Local nonprofits presented with donations include:

• Central Maine Christian Academy, $4,000

• The Salvation Army, $4,000

• Gideons, $5,000

• Hope House Network, $5,000

• Fellowship Christian Academy, $8,000

• The Jesus Party, $13,400

• Hope Haven Gospel Mission, $16,000

• Straight Ahead Ministries, $20,500

The Vineyard Christian Fellowship and the Vineyard Christian School also received donations, but were not able to send delegates to attend the dinner.

Dan and Carol Hatch accepted the donation for Straight Ahead Ministries, a nonprofit that brings Bible studies and guidance to troubled youths housed in Maine’s youth centers. The couple also travel around Maine training people at churches and volunteers on how to effectively reach out to young people.

Hatch said the donation will go directly to Straight Ahead Ministries national office, where it will be redispursed to the couple for ongoing ministry expenses.

Another big winner at the dinner was Hope Haven Gospel Mission, which recently kicked off its capital campaign to raise $3.5 million for a new building.

“This generous donation will go directly toward our new building,” said Pastor Paul McLaughlin, who accepted the donation for Hope Haven.

The mission’s building now can handle up to 30 people, and McLaughlin hopes to increase that number to 100 with the new building.

“We’ve already had to turn down 180 people this year,” said Hatch, explaining the need for the new building.

Doug and Sonia Taylor, founders of the Jesus Party, plan to use their check to make payments on the 15-passenger van they use on ministry trips for inner-city kids, such as to the apple orchard and Gray Animal Farm. The funds will also go toward mortgage payments on a Birch Street building that is home to their ministry.

“Doug works two full-time jobs and I work one full-time job just to make ends meet,” said Sonia Taylor. “We fund the Jesus Party out of our own pockets because most of our members are from poor families who can’t afford to pay dues.”

Both the Central Maine Christian Academy and the Hope House Network cited their oil tanks as the destination of their checks.

“We are in a very large and old building that takes a lot of money to heat,” said Central Maine Christian Academy spokesperson Patricia St. Hilaire.

All of the nonprofits receiving donations expressed their condolences to the people of the Good News Chapel.

“While we empathize with you for your loss, we thank you for your generosity and compassion,” said Major Richard Lyle of the Salvation Army.

Nonprofits were selected by votes from the remaining 12 members of Good News Chapel. The size of the donations were determined by the number of votes each nonprofit received, Poisson said.

Bernard explained that he chose to host a gathering for the disbursement of the funds because he didn’t want to simply send checks in the mail.

“All of your testimonies have served as healing to the folks losing the Good News Chapel,” Bernard told the crowd of nonprofit representatives.

He joined the chapel about 16 months ago, when Pastor Don Levesque, who established the chapel, retired after 30 years of service.

The chapel decided to close its doors on Sept. 5 because there were not enough attendees to help with electricity, insurance and fuel costs, Poisson explained.