Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | A while back I posted about the situation we are having with our local small town church. This is the Freeborn United Church of Christ in Freeborn Minnesota.
Like many small town churches we have financial problems. This is due to declining membership through the last many years. Our remaining membership is getting older and does not have the energy for projects that we once had. I received several comments and suggestions from NATers at that time.
A couple of weeks ago we had an informal "discussion" with a representative from the state church organization. He suggested various options that he had seen in other similar situations.
The board was directed to investigate some cost cutting measures and various options. A special meeting was called for yesterday to decide upon the Church's future. The board worked hard and came up with four scenarios that would involve cost reductions. Some involved closing the building and meeting elsewhere, others went the other route of keeping the building open but reducing paid staff (Minister, Secretary, Orgnaist etc.). Each of the four scenarios reduced expenses but barely to the point of being sustainable.
After much discussion, our Pastor suggested that she wanted us to reveal our personal feelings. I expressed my feelings that any of the measures suggested by the board were really only short term fixes and that I envisioned that within a short period of time, we would need to meet again and decide upon the possibility of disbanding the Church altogether. Others responded with similar feelings. After discussion along this line a motion was made by yet another member that we close the building and disband the Church at the end of this year. More discussion followed. I could sense that this was the general feeling among the group.
Part of our concern is that we are in a partnership and share a Pastor with two other small churches in neighboring towns. Our decision to close will have an impact on their situations as it is unlikely that they could support the Pastor without our help.
A written vote was called for. The results were almost unanimous with the Motion being carried. None of us were happy about this result but it seems like really the only logical solution to the situation. The church has been here for some 140 years.
We will now be faced with the problems of trying to sell the building, parsonage and properly dispose of the holdings. I am quite certain that our cost to close will be extensive.
Now that we have made this decision, I would welcome any suggestions for others who have been through this themselves. I had a conversation with a brother of one of posters who replied to my last post about this matter. He had been through this type of situation some years ago.
We would certainly like to see the building used for some useful purpose but I'm not sure what that might be. Our school was closed several years ago and sold to an outside group who used it for a "summer camp" for a few years. They have now abandoned the building and it is falling in ruin. We don't want to see the church building follow in that path. |
Church closing
