Elegy for a Dieing Congregation

Today’s post begins with another Stained Glass fractal since I am dealing, at least tangentially, with religion. I picked Stained Glass 12 because of the predominance of red in the image: the red is important because I took part in the Ruby Jubilee (that’s 80 years) of the First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa that prompted me to write this elegy. (Technically, this isn’t an “elegy” unless you count prose poems but I’m still titling the piece that way.
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Saturday evening December First Robyn and I visited a grand old lady. She is still beautiful in spite of her advancing age and slowly-growing decrepitude. Large and elegantly proportioned, she is well-kept but beginning to show her age--not really surprising for someone of eighty. Still, she presents a brave face to her community and a warm, welcoming air to her visitors. The “lady” I’m referring to is the First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa: the congregation has been around 120 years and their current building was completed in 1928. I came with the Chancel Choir of Community United Methodist Church (of Huntington Beach) to participate in a Christmas Choir Festival for her “Ruby Jubilee”--in celebration of eighty years of servie. Once she was the only Methodist congregation from miles around but now the congregation is in decline.
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The reasons for the decline are many: First UMC Costa Mesa is a downtown congregation: the neighborhood has changed but the church didn’t evolved with it. Many members have moved on to newer churches which have sprung up in the surrounding areas. This building, grand as it is, lacks many of the amenities modern-day church-goes have come to expect--like easy parking. (The facility has 18 parking spots on-site and once those are full worshipers will have to cross a busy street or use an inconvenient parking structure for a nearby medical facility.) The general decline in attendance of “main-line Protestant” Churches has take its toll as well thanks to the rise of “Mega“ Churches.
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Still, I can’t but help feel a certain sense of melancholy when I think about this place. I was sitting in front of some long-term members talking about their church. One woman had been attending since the late 1960s. Back then their attendance was over 400 on a good day. Back then they had a huge choir. Now 45-55 people attend on an average Sunday and their choir number around five. Most of the membership is on the far side of 50 and there aren’t any young families present (a sure sign of a congregation in decline).
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What can be done about the decline? Frankly, I have no clue. The church is already sharing their facility with a Chinese-speaking congregation (a tack taken by many churches in the same situation) in order to help meet expenses. Maybe First UMC is simply ending the end of it’s allotted lifespan: if that is so then I will be sorry. The church has a long history and a lot of love and spirit went into the place. I’ll be sorry if I see that history come to an end. In any case, this great lady has had a great history and her community is better for her presence and she will be missed when she is finally gone..