109-Year Old Richfield Church Closes

Bethany Covenant Church, a longtime member of Richfield's religious community, has closed its doors after 109 years.

Bethany held its final service on Sunday, followed by a community banquet to say goodbye to the historic church. 

The church has been active in Richfield as it tried to seek new members, taking part in "Prayer in the Park," and Community Garden Day, among other events. Nonetheless, Ellis said, the church was not able to bring in enough members to sustain itself after longtime members grew old and died. Part of the problem, Pastor Greg Ellis told the Sun Current, is that the church has not been able to adapt its evangelizing to today's less religious environment, where new members have to be hooked and reeled in, rather than netted because they were seeking a church.

"As membership and attendance declined giving followed suit, even with a building we own and a small staff, budgets became tighter and tighter," Ellis wrote in an open letter to the community last week. "We realized that we don’t have enough energy or resources to be a Healthy Missional Church."

The church's assets will be sold off to help fund startup churches.

"[It's been] a difficult process, but exciting what God will be able to do through our death," Ellis told Patch in an e-mail last week.