The service marked the end of the 119-year-old church's adolescence, the Rev. Steve Ellis, the parish’s rector, told the more than 150 parishioners who turned out, many wearing straw hats and sunglasses, according to a report in the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper.

"We've come to know that comfort is not our calling," Ellis said to the crowd seated in folding chairs on the uneven field that will replace the congregation's historic church on Depot Hill in Capitola.

The 250-member congregation outgrew its church years ago -- so much so that worshippers have been split among three services -- and made the decision to buy the empty lot near the State Park Drive exit from Highway 1 about 16 years ago, Ellis said.

The congregation sold its old church in April for $2.7 million, but has been renting the space back during construction. The new facility, which will include several green construction elements, will likely open next summer, Ellis told the newspaper.