Prairieville United Methodist Church Faribault MN

Prairieville United Methodist Church closes after 148 years

Prairieville United Methodist Church east of Faribault has closed after a decrease in membership meant it was no longer financially viable. President of the Church Council Chris Hillebrand hopes the church will be open for a few services per year.

For some, Prairieville United Methodist Church was like home.

Margaret Bauer has been a member of the church her whole life. The white, clapboard church with the small cemetery out back is where she was baptized and married, and it’s where her children were baptized. But after 148 years, the church on Hwy. 60 just east of Faribault is closing its doors.

The church opened in 1870, but with dwindling attendance, it was no longer financially viable.

Chris Hillebrand, president of the church council, is also a lifelong member. In the 1970s, he estimated about 50 people attended services every Sunday, but over the past three years, the church was “lucky to average 10.”

With such a steep decline in membership, the burden of financial support fell on those most active. Serious talk of closing the church began about a year ago, though members have known for a while that it was coming.

“We all knew it was going to happen. We saw the writing on the wall as the funds started dwindling,” Hillebrand said. “We’ve probably known for five years. We tried to hang on as long as we could.”

What was left of the congregation voted in September on closing the church. Of 11 voters, nine voted to close and two voted to keep it open. Hillebrand said at least one of the voters in favor of keeping the church open told him they voted that way to make sure the church got at least one vote.

After Sunday’s service, the doors closed and those attending shuffled out. Now in limbo, they’re looking for a new spiritual home.

There are other Methodist churches in the area, including Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church and Hope United Methodist in Faribault, and Kenyon United Methodist, which operates on Fourth Street in Kenyon. Finding the right church may not be as easy as driving to a new location on Sunday.

“You can’t just close one church one day and go to a different church the next day,” Bauer said. “I’m going to be going to different churches until I can feel at home again.”

Some members of the church could trace their ancestry back to the church’s beginnings, she said.

“There are several Methodist churches in the area. We had the opportunity to transfer to any one of those. I have not made my decision yet because of the fact Prairieville is the only church I’ve ever known,” she said. “I was baptized there, married there… that makes a difference.”

A nationwide trend

“Rural churches are suffering,” Hillebrand said.

According to the United Methodist Church’s archives and history, Methodism in America peaked in 1970 at over 10 million members. In 1950, 6.5 percent of U.S. residents were Methodist.

Since 1970, the U.S. population has grown by over 100 million people, but Methodist church membership dropped by almost 3 million people. From 1980 to 2010, the Methodist population in Minnesota has dropped by 30.4 percent, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives.

It’s not just Methodist churches that have seen membership declines. In 2013, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America reported that more than 1,000 ELCA churches had closed nationwide in the decade prior. In Minnesota alone, the number of ELCA congregations dropped by 130 and the number of Minnesotans who regularly attend ELCA services was down by 115,000 people from 2000 to 2010, according to the ARDA.

The Catholic Church saw an 8.7 percent decrease in those attending services regularly from 2000 to 2010, according to the ARDA, though that total is actually up from the number in 1980. The number of Minnesota congregations shrunk by 59 since 1980.

As for Prairieville United, Prairieville Cemetery behind the church will remain, as the Methodist church donated the building to the cemetery association to run, Hillebrand said.

He said the church will hopefully remain alive through a few annual services and it will still be available for weddings, baptisms and funerals.

Jacob Swanson

From: https://www.southernminn.com/faribault_daily_news/news/article_d29ef693-ea1a-5b3b-8f1b-936153bfb544.html

 

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