Sunday service at Vineyard Christian Fellowship hasn’t changed — a throng of churchgoers still crowd into the auditorium at Evanston Township High School, 1600 Dodge Ave., to raise their hands and voices in worship.

Vineyard has been using the facility since a zoning dispute with the city forced it to abandon its church building, but even that does not stop its members from furthering the church’s mission.

However, since the city announced last week that the city and the church had reached a settlement, the church finally will be able to use its property at 1800 Ridge Ave. for services as soon as the mediated settlement is approved by the court today.

For members of this Evanston-born church, the settlement is a blessing.

“I’m very glad there is peace,” said associate pastor John Willison, McCormick ’84.

Although he would not directly comment on the settlement, he said the church has met in a variety of locations over the years and that has not stopped it from “spreading the lifesaving message of God.”

Nevil Coley of Rogers Park who has been attending services for nearly 10 years, said he is happy the church will be able to use its building for outreach purposes. But he also said he is not really concerned where he attends services.

“The building is just a material thing,” Coley said. “The church is really where your heart is.”

But for the church, which has been paying nearly $100,000 a year to rent the auditorium, the settlement is a financial relief.

According to City Manager Roger Crum, the city will give Vineyard $350,000 and withdraw all protest to the church’s tax-exempt status at the building’s location.

When Vineyard bought the building in 1996, church officials learned city zoning laws did not allow for worship in the office district where the building is located. But since Vineyard needed space for offices anyway, the church decided to go ahead with the purchase.

In March, U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer ruled that the city violated the church’s rights to free speech and equal protection by not allowing it to hold services in the building.

Following that, the court ordered both parties to pursue a settlement conference.

“We’re satisfied with the settlement,” Crum said. “But I think we need it to clarify the zoning code.”

Still some Vineyard church members said they will miss the ETHS auditorium which has been their home for the past six years.

“When we go to our own building, we’ll lose the community of the one huge service,” Evanston resident Matthew Thomas said.