• Home
  • Featured
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Crime
  • More
    • Celebration
    • Interviews
    • Health
    • Investigations
    • Metro
    • The Parliament
    • Opinion
    • TGN Award Night
    • Religion
    • Security
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • World

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

What's Hot

RIPAN Knocks Saboteurs Behind Border Re-Opening Video, Cautions FG

June 9, 2023

Real Reasons We Postponed 2023 Census – NPC

June 9, 2023

CBN Lists Benefits Of E-Naira, Intensifies Sensitisation Campaign

June 9, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • RIPAN Knocks Saboteurs Behind Border Re-Opening Video, Cautions FG
  • Real Reasons We Postponed 2023 Census – NPC
  • CBN Lists Benefits Of E-Naira, Intensifies Sensitisation Campaign
  • Tinubu Signs Electricity Bill Into Law 
  • Revealed: What Tinubu Told Traditional Rulers At Aso Rock Meeting 
  • 37 Private Universities Get Licences + Full List
  • Just In: Tinubu Suspends CBN Gov Emefiele From Office 
  • Man Kills Wife, Himself After She Threatened To Divorce Him & Marry ex-Boyfriend
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
The Gazelle NewsThe Gazelle News
  • Home
  • Featured
  • News
    Featured

    RIPAN Knocks Saboteurs Behind Border Re-Opening Video, Cautions FG

    By Khadijah OlowodeJune 9, 20230
    Recent

    RIPAN Knocks Saboteurs Behind Border Re-Opening Video, Cautions FG

    June 9, 2023

    Real Reasons We Postponed 2023 Census – NPC

    June 9, 2023

    CBN Lists Benefits Of E-Naira, Intensifies Sensitisation Campaign

    June 9, 2023
  • Politics
    Featured

    Revealed: What Tinubu Told Traditional Rulers At Aso Rock Meeting 

    By Khadijah OlowodeJune 9, 20230
    Recent

    Revealed: What Tinubu Told Traditional Rulers At Aso Rock Meeting 

    June 9, 2023

    Why You Need To Support Akpabio, Abbas, Tinubu Tells Lawmakers-elect

    June 9, 2023

    Economy, Security, Take Centre Stage As Enugu Governor, Mbah meets Tinubu; Presses For Kanu’s Release 

    June 9, 2023
  • Business
    Featured

    RIPAN Knocks Saboteurs Behind Border Re-Opening Video, Cautions FG

    By Khadijah OlowodeJune 9, 20230
    Recent

    RIPAN Knocks Saboteurs Behind Border Re-Opening Video, Cautions FG

    June 9, 2023

    Israel To Partner Nigeria To Create 1m Jobs Through Digital Economy 

    June 9, 2023

    Shareholders Commend Wema Bank Management On Good Corporate Performance

    June 4, 2023
  • Entertainment
    Featured

    Burna Boy, Wizkid, Tems, Asake, Ayra Starr, Nominated For 2023 BET Awards + Full List Of Nominees

    By Khadijah OlowodeJune 9, 20230
    Recent

    Burna Boy, Wizkid, Tems, Asake, Ayra Starr, Nominated For 2023 BET Awards + Full List Of Nominees

    June 9, 2023

    Actor Saidi Balogun Loses Younger Sister

    June 9, 2023

    Former Runs Girl Mandy Kiss Turns Gospel Musician

    June 9, 2023
  • Education
    Featured

    37 Private Universities Get Licences + Full List

    By Khadijah OlowodeJune 9, 20230
    Recent

    37 Private Universities Get Licences + Full List

    June 9, 2023

    Six Students To Represent Nigeria At Microsoft World Championship In US

    June 9, 2023

    WAEC Arrests Principals, Supervisors, Others For Examination Malpractices

    June 9, 2023
  • Crime
    Featured

    Man Kills Wife, Himself After She Threatened To Divorce Him & Marry ex-Boyfriend

    By Khadijah OlowodeJune 9, 20230
    Recent

    Man Kills Wife, Himself After She Threatened To Divorce Him & Marry ex-Boyfriend

    June 9, 2023

    EFCC Arrests Twins, 26 Others for ‘Yahoo’ Offence 

    June 9, 2023

    Man Bags Three Years for Keke NAPEP Investment Scam in Maiduguri

    June 8, 2023
  • More
    • Celebration
    • Interviews
    • Health
    • Investigations
    • Metro
    • The Parliament
    • Opinion
    • TGN Award Night
    • Religion
    • Security
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • World
The Gazelle NewsThe Gazelle News
Home»Religion»182-year-old Church Closes Down Due To Dwindling Attendance  
Religion

182-year-old Church Closes Down Due To Dwindling Attendance  

Soffiyyah OlamideBy Soffiyyah OlamideMay 11, 2023Updated:May 11, 2023No Comments4 Mins Read
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

After 182 years of operation, a historic church in Birmingham, Alabama, held its final service before closing its doors for good, citing dwindling attendance numbers as the reason. 

The Five Mile Presbyterian Church held its final service on Sunday, 7 May, 2023. Following the closure, the church’s original building and cemetery will be placed in a trust to maintain the building as a historical site, as NBC News affiliate WVTM 13 reported. 

Sharon Eich, the lay pastor of Five Mile Presbyterian Church, said in an interview with the local news station that there is a “certain sadness” to the church’s closure. Eich has been at the church since 2002, WVTM added. 

“It has been a blessing in my life over the years,” Eich said. She highlighted some of the church’s community outreach efforts, including First Light, a ministry that creates a nurturing community for homeless and abused women. When Eich began serving as a pastor at the church, the congregation had around 40 people, and by the time of the church’s closure, that number was down to nine. 

Walter Chesser, a former member of the church, recalled that he and his sister started attending the church around the late ’40s and early ’50s. After worshiping at the church for decades, Chesser and his family must now find a new church to join, which he hopes will be Presbyterian. 

“It’s sad to be in the group that says we are closing,” Chesser told WVTM. Eich told al.com that many members have passed away or started living in nursing homes and are no longer able ot attend services. University of Georgia professor John Knox, the son of the Rev. Harold Knox, said the congregation members had “distinctive personalities.” 

“Their task in life was to help others,” Knox said. “It was always about faith that did things.”

The professor delivered a historical presentation during the church’s final Sunday service. The congregation of the historic church was founded in 1841, predating the city of Birmingham by 30 years. The church expanded, and in 1880, the white clapboard wooden church was built. 

By the time of the church’s closure, the building could hold 30 people and did not have any modern amenities, such as air-conditioning or bathrooms. Eich noted that the building also did not have any heat or running water.

Regarding the church and an adjoining Civil War-era cemetery, the plan is to place that in a trust. The Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley, an administrative unit, will own the 1958 brick sanctuary and fellowship hall, which will likely be sold to another congregation, according to Eich.The 182-year-old church in Alabama is not the only historic church that recently closed its doors due to dwindling attendance. 

As The Christian Post previously reported, members of Christ Church UMC in Southwick, Massachusetts, voted in May 2022 to permanentlydisband the congregation on July 1 of that year. 

When the church opened in 1816, it consisted of just eight members who would meet in their homes and district schoolhouses. Methodist ministers known as “circuit riders” traveled by horseback to preach to various towns.

Over the years, the community expanded and grew in size. However, church officials accepted around 2019 that they were at the “end of an era,” citing an aging population and diminishing numbers. Carol Jones, who was christened at the church and whose brother served as a treasurer for 40 years, told Mass Live that she foresaw the church’s end after younger people moved away. 

Another member, Carol Locke, who had been a part of the church for 22 years, agreed. Locke said that much of the revenue-generating work of the church required younger people whom the church didn’t have enough of anymore. “We are a very old congregation. Most of us are over 80 and we can’t do the potluck dinners and the craft fairs and all that kind of stuff,” she said. “It has been (a big part of her life), but unfortunately, I think the time has come.”

The church’s final Sunday service consisted of 30 people, closing after 206 years. Following the church’s closure, the Rev. Ken Blanchard decided that it was time to retire. 

“The time has come for this congregation of Christ’s holy church to disband and take leave of this building,” he said during the church’s last worship service. “It has served our holy faith well. It is fitting, therefore, that we should take leave of this consecrated house, lifting up our hearts in thanksgiving for this common store of memories. … This is my farewell to pastoral service.”

Related

182 yr old Church Closed down dwindling attendance
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
Soffiyyah Olamide

Related Posts

RIPAN Knocks Saboteurs Behind Border Re-Opening Video, Cautions FG

June 9, 2023

Real Reasons We Postponed 2023 Census – NPC

June 9, 2023

CBN Lists Benefits Of E-Naira, Intensifies Sensitisation Campaign

June 9, 2023
Don't Miss
Business

RIPAN Knocks Saboteurs Behind Border Re-Opening Video, Cautions FG

By Khadijah OlowodeJune 9, 20230

The Rice Processors Association of Nigeria, RIPAN, suspects that persons and groups who do not…

Real Reasons We Postponed 2023 Census – NPC

June 9, 2023

CBN Lists Benefits Of E-Naira, Intensifies Sensitisation Campaign

June 9, 2023

Tinubu Signs Electricity Bill Into Law 

June 9, 2023
Stay In Touch
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from SmartMag about art & design.

Most Viewed Posts
  • APO Press Releases
  • How Olori Ajoke Found A New Life Outside Oyo Kingdom
  • Wig-wearing Women to pay Tax
  • Exclusive: Drama At GAC Meeting As ex-Dep Gov, Senator, Others Tackle Speaker Over Alleged Attempt To Impose LG Chairmanship Candidates 
  • After DNA Tests Proved All Three Children Were Not His, ex-Aston Villa Striker Regains Possession Of 7-bedroom Mansion From ex-Wife
About Us
About Us

Your source for the lifestyle news. This demo is crafted specifically to exhibit the use of the theme as a lifestyle site. Visit our main page for more demos.

We're accepting new partnerships right now.

Email Us: tgnews2013@gmail.com
Contact: +234-802-304-5855

Most Viewed Posts
  • APO Press Releases Views: 65319 August 27, 2020
  • How Olori Ajoke Found A New Life Outside Oyo Kingdom Views: 45226 November 5, 2020
  • Wig-wearing Women to pay Tax Views: 39700 September 5, 2020
  • Exclusive: Drama At GAC Meeting As ex-Dep Gov, Senator, Others Tackle Speaker Over Alleged Attempt To Impose LG Chairmanship Candidates  Views: 31890 May 25, 2021
Search
New Comments
    Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
    • Home
    © 2023 The Gazelle News. Designed by DeedsTech.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Please wait...

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Want to be notified when our article is published? Enter your email address and name below to be the first to know.
    SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTER NOW