By J.A. Buchholz

LAKELAND — When the time comes for a church to close, it’s never easy.

It doesn’t matter if members have been expecting it to happen; it is still a shock to realize the thread that has woven throughout significant life moments will no longer exist.

Two churches in the Florida Conference are going through the painful process of closing, but experiencing that reality differently.

Jacksonville’s Hilliard United Methodist Church had been barely operating as a church for a number of years. The small church of seven members had transitioned to more of a chapel than a full-time congregation. Its concerns for the future were hastened last May when heavy rains caused the roof over the sanctuary and fellowship hall to collapse. More than $35,000 would be required to make the repairs.

While Florida Annual Conference property insurance covered $5,000 for interior repairs, the congregation was left with a $30,000 burden. Throughout the following 16 weeks, members prayerfully searched for options, but painfully came to realize the church could not continue.

Its last worship service was Aug. 24.

The Rev. Pam Hall, deacon of the church, said members knew the Jacksonville District would sell the property and use the money to start a new church in the district, but members wanted more done with the church’s belongings. She said Hilliard’s altarware, paraments, altar table, music system, chancel furnishings and other items will be donated to the new, nearby River of Life United Methodist Church.

“This church has been ready to close for many, many years,” Hall said. “It was just too small to be out in ministry. They tried everything to get people into the church—block parties, barbecues, parenting classes, concerts, starting a Girl Scouts troop, just about everything.

“They hadn’t had a visitor since Thanksgiving of last year. They made an amazing effort, but they were remaining open to serve the needs of their members only.”

Although it has been painful, Hall said members are optimistic about the future.

“It’s painful, but it’s the best that could have happened,” Hall said. “There’s never an easy way. I am telling them to let go with love.”

It’s a different situation in the Dania Beach community. Dania United Methodist Church will close Dec. 31 after 98 years of service.

The decision to close the church was made after more than a year of work between the Rev. Deborah A. McLeod, district superintendent of the Broward Palm Beach District, and members of the church.

“This is sad,” McLeod said. “It’s the only option because not enough members are left to do ministry.”

The process began last September when church members told McLeod they didn’t have enough members to fill required church positions. She met with church members in February and August 2003 to discuss their future.

“They are very sweet people, mostly an older congregation,” McLeod said. “It’s just there are very few people to do the work of many.”

McLeod also said the congregation is 100 percent Anglo, while the neighborhood surrounding the church is 42 percent ethnic.

“The church is unable to make the kind of changes necessary to reach people in the neighborhood,” she said. “The church has been in decline for 34 years and now has too few people to do the work of ministry.”

While there are five United Methodist churches within eight miles of the church, McLeod said members are reluctant to let the church close.

“This is very much like a death,” she said. “It is a loss.”

McLeod met with members of the Dania church Oct. 2 to inform them she was recommending the discontinuance of Dania United Methodist Church. The recommendation was approved by Florida Conference Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker and his cabinet Oct. 5.

The Broward Palm Beach District’s Board of Missions and Church Extension will determine what to do with the church building following the annual conference event in June 2004.

In Jacksonville the district is in talks to sell Hilliard United Methodist Church, and members are attending nearby United Methodist churches.

“We are hoping that there will be able to be one new church start in our district, possibly two,” Hall said. “I still get calls from members who want to know where the district is in the process. A former member who is in an assisted care facility said she wants to find someone who will bring her to the dedication of the items at the new church as they take on a new life. So a church death doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”