Wesley United Methodist Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. File photo.

When the Wesley United Methodist Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota holds its final worship service on June 5, it will join hundreds of other congregations nationwide that have ceased to exist.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 75 to 100 houses of worship were closing per week in the United States, according to the Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data of the United Church of Christ. Post-pandemic, those numbers should increase sharply. If houses of worship follow trends predicted for U.S. restaurants and retailers, as many as 20% of the national total could close — up to 100,000 over the next several years — with The United Methodist Church being no exception to the nationwide trend.

The pandemic isn’t the only reason for closings. First, a decreasing number of Americans consider themselves to be members of houses of worship — fewer than half in 2021, for the first time since the Gallup organization began collecting data.

Second, with the popularization of the automobile in the 20th century and the internet in the 21st, the need for every community to have a structure housing a United Methodist church has faded. A hundred years ago, when many United Methodist churches were founded, a worshiper needed to be able to walk or ride a horse to church on Sundays, but no more.

Third, real estate has become more expensive to maintain, with hikes in utilities, insurance, and capital updates, and repairs.

Many churches are in a downward spiral: congregations dwindle, contributions decline, reserves erode, buildings deteriorate, the staff is less able to be supported, and the church becomes less attractive to attend. 

Wesley UMC found that attendance had dwindled to 40 people each week in worship, much different than the average attendance of 500 the congregation had experienced in past decades. Additionally, the costs of maintaining the building continued to grow.

Rev. Jeff Lathrop, who serves the congregation, and the leadership team met with Rev. Kris Mutzenberger, the district superintendent for the Dakotas Conference Northwest District, to brainstorm possible next steps.

“We met several times to determine what might be the next steps in this season of ministry for Wesley,” said Mutzenberger. “We determined three possible directions: a vital merger, a restart, or a legacy option.”

Worship at Wesley UMC. Screen shot from live stream feed.

A vital merger is when two or more churches merge as one church to sustain and further the life of the church. There are two United Methodist Congregations in Grand Forks, Wesley UMC and Zion UMC. Rev. Mutzenberger met with both congregations to discuss the possibility of a vital merger, using the process and guidelines delineated in Dirk Elliot’s work Vital Merger: A New Church Start Approach That Joins Church Families Together.

“After meeting with both Wesley and Zion, it was determined that a vital merger was not possible at this time,” said Mutzenberger. 

Another consideration for Wesley was a restart. Think of church restarts in terms of Christianity’s central story — the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Rev. Dottie Escobedo-Frank, who wrote the book “ReStart Your Church,” consults with United Methodist and other Christian churches about restarts. 

“Churches want to stay as they are until they’re gone and then lock up the doors,” Escobedo-Frank said. “But if they want to plan for a future beyond them, then restart is a way they can do that.”

Closing the doors at Wesley UMC and restarting as something totally new sounded good, but the costs and the location made this option less appealing. 

“The building sits in a residential area that is not growing. It is a former high school building with mounting costs for maintenance. The costs make this option less than desirable,” said Pastor Jeff Lathrop. “It just wasn’t sustainable.”

Celebration Sunday is scheduled for June 5. Wesley UMC graphic.

A legacy gift was the third option that Wesley considered. The idea is to create a worshiping community in the Grand Forks area.

On March 27, 2022, Rev. Kris Mutzenberger led a church charge conference meeting. Wesley UMC voted to close and leave funds which the Dakotas Annual Conference will use to start a new church in Grand Forks. 

Beth Valentine, a member of the Wesley UMC Leadership Council, said, “As we deliberated on how to best move forward in our ministry, we considered moving buildings but remaining Wesley UMC. We considered options such as relaunching as a church with the help of the Conference, merging with another United Methodist church, or leaving a legacy gift to the Conference to be used for planting a new church in Grand Forks.”

The gift will include current funds on hand and money from the sale of the building, parsonage, and any investments.

“We are merely stewards of the church and its resources. It does not belong to us but instead belongs to God, so we should use its resources to focus on how best to serve God’s kingdom. We knew that we could no longer fiscally sustain a congregation in our current building. No single event caused this; instead, the situation resulted from a trend seen nationwide regarding declining church membership and participation,” said Valentine. “To continue as Wesley UMC without a vibrant ministry would simply deplete these existing resources while maintaining the status quo. By investing these assets in the future of Grand Forks and other congregations, we could instead better fulfill God’s mission.”

After 150 years of ministry, Wesley UMC will hold “Celebration Sunday” on June 5. District Superintendent Rev. Kris Mutzenberger will deliver the message. Current and former members of Wesley UMC, including former clergy, have been extended an invitation. 

“This was not an easy decision to make. There have been hours of deliberation and prayer,” says Valentine. “The biggest challenge is saying goodbye to something that many people love. WUMC has been the church home for many in our congregation for years. It was where they were married and where their children were baptized. Letting go of the physical reminders of these events is, naturally, hard for many. Similarly, realizing that the people you have worshipped and served with won’t be in the pew next to you (or on the zoom screen in front of you) can be a cause of mourning. However, it is also an opportunity to strengthen those ties and relationships.”