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It was the day before Thanksgiving 2014.

“People were in tears; it was just like losing a family member,� said Peter Yucupicio, the vice chairman of the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Council. Yucupicio lives about a block from the church. He remembers that night an electrical malfunction sparked tragedy.

Although the adobe mission, about 85 years old, wasn’t damaged, the loss of the parish hall built in the 1980s deprived the congregation of its hub for catechism classes, quinceañeras and funerals. In the meantime, they have been using the south wing of the now-closed Richey Elementary School, 2209 N. 15th Ave.

But no longer.

On Sunday, the church, 2015 N. Calle Central, will celebrate its newly constructed hall with Mass, the crowning of Miss Santa Rosa royalty and a traditional Yaqui cultural fiesta complete with food, ritual dances and special prayers.

The congregation will also recognize the Aug. 23 feast day of Santa Rosa de Lima, a 16th-century Peruvian woman, later named a Roman Catholic saint, for whom the church is named.

“The mission, for us, is the heart of Old Pascua,� said Touché Romero, the president of the Santa Rosa Council and a lifelong resident of Old Pascua. “It’s the gathering spot.�

As a child, he remembers walking Concepción Martinez Ruiz to the church on his way to school, her bag full of cookbooks.

The kitchen in the new fellowship hall will be dedicated to the day-care cook, known to everyone as Nana Concha.

“We had a lot of good memories there,� said Dahlia Wilcox, Ruiz’s daughter. “Everyone would gather there. Nobody would ever be turned away.�

Wilcox had her quinceañera in the old hall and danced on the basketball court. The hall itself will be dedicated to Peter and Viola Alvarez, who cared for the grounds. Peter Alvarez, in his 80s now, still checks on the church.

The Yaquis established Old Pascua Village, now east of Interstate 10 and south of Grant Road, in 1903, Star archives show.

“A lot of people have moved from Old Pascua Village because you grow up and have kids and move away, but the ones that have stayed there are longtime members of the tribe,� Yucupicio said.

The church, a mission of the Diocese of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Roman Catholic Missions Parish, 507 W. 29th St., was erected in 1930.

“The church is what our ancestors left for us,� said 70-year-old Erlinda Valenzuela, a lifelong resident of Old Pascua. “They built it.�

Romero says the church is built on a lot that once hosted cultural ceremonies under a ramada made of mesquite. Diocese of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ archives note that before the construction of the church, Mass was celebrated “under a shed of dead tree branches.â€�

“That lot there has a lot of significance to us because of the blessings that were there, the prayers that were there,� he said.

Gathering in a historic building means substantial upkeep. The church fundraises consistently. Bake sales and benefit dances funded the construction of the original hall, replacing a military barracks from the 1950s, Romero said.

At 2,520 square feet, the size of the new hall should be roughly equivalent to the previous building because it was an insurance claim, said Erica Morey, the business development manager with ESB Design+Build, the construction company that did the project.

Although insurance covered the construction of a new building, Santa Rosa is fundraising to replace some of what was lost on the inside. Furniture, arts and crafts supplies and teaching materials are replaceable.

The loss of a Bible translated into the Yaqui language was more “heartfelt,� Romero said.

The congregation’s composure is not entirely Pascua Yaqui, but the church itself remains a reminder of the area’s heritage. Romero estimated that Mass draws about 100 worshipers each Sunday.

“I think it will just unify us again and give us that strength we needed,� said Yucupicio of the opening of the new hall. “All the things are changing in the world, but Santa Rosa has been there. … It has a fresh start again.�