Eganville – Grace Lutheran Church was the venue for a solemn ceremony Sunday as the congregation of Melville United Church held its final service.

Rev. Margie Patterson officiated at the morning service where she delivered the statement of disbandment of the church, marking the end of well over a century and a half of presence in the community. The United Church denomination is made up of the union of Methodist, Congregationalist and Presbyterian churches.

In Eganville, the Presbyterians were meeting as far back as 1860, but did not have a church of their own. They built a church in 1875, named Melville Presbyterian Church, located next to the Anglican Church. There are reports of Methodist services in Eganville as far back as 1857 and the church was built in 1898. When the Methodists and Presbyterians united to form the United Church, the building used was the old Presbyterian Church which had been reconstructed in 1915 following the devastating fire in Eganville in 1911.

Rev. Patterson had been supervising at the Melville Sunday services since the congregation started worshipping at Grace Lutheran in September 2023 following the sale of the United Church building. The dwindling congregation had made the painful decision to sell the church the previous year as the costs of upkeep and paying a pastor became too great.   

On Sunday, the service was very traditional, for the most part, with hymns, the liturgy and reflection appropriate for the church disbanding.

And despite the disbandment of the church, it remains very much alive and active in the community through a generous legacy the congregation has bequeathed to several organizations.

“The faith that these people hold will always be alive and visible,” Rev. Patterson told The Leader prior to the service. “From their life, those seeds that they plant will continue also from generation to generation.

“That is my hope and my belief,” she added.

She shared how the inspiration for her message came from popular texting term “LOL,” which, she admitted, she did not know what it stood for.

Her message described how the process had been a Labour of Love, noting at the beginning of any movement or organization, it takes a Labour of Love to get things started. Her second point focused on the Language of Love, which is the Gospel in one word, she said.

“Christ spoke and modelled love,” she said. “No qualification. Love.”

The third point was Legacy of Love, which as a supervisor she witnessed as she watched some members wrestle with the decision that had to be made.

“That’s very Biblical,” she remarked. “When we feel in this word that the Creator is speaking to us, it’s very much the Biblical story – God speaks through our dreams, our visions, our hopes.

“So, their Legacy of Love will remain in the community that they have loved and laboured in,” she added.  

Congregational Decision      

Rev. Patterson shared the background as to why and how the decision was made to disband, stressing it was a unanimous decision made by the congregation.

She noted how the church had closed and the congregation was welcomed to hold services at Grace Lutheran, but that became difficult due to the lack of an appointed minister.

“I’m a supervisor for them and provided one Sunday a month and I provided Sacraments,” she said. “Over the course of those nine to 10 months, because they did make the actual decision in June, they began to recognize there was a downward swing of both smaller groups of people because of age, or illness, or whatever.

“Basically, their decision was based on not wanting to just exist,” she added. “When they looked at the financial legacy they could leave, they knew that they wanted to leave something to various organizations here in Eganville that could benefit from a small boost, an acknowledgement of other places in Eganville that do good works.”

She again stressed it was the congregation’s decision to disband, adding they looked at other possibilities.

“And they said ‘no, we will disband so that we can free up what we have rather than keep using it for ourselves’,” she noted. “The people voted and those present that day, it was a unanimous vote. It doesn’t mean it was easy, but they chose to leave a legacy for the community and it will be community organizations that are recipients of that legacy.

“Now they can choose what other faith community they want to adhere to and participate with,” she added.

They’re Ready

Rev. Patterson said from what she witnessed, the congregation is ready for this final step in the church’s history.

“I believe they’re ready. I’ve heard words of that. And yes, it’s an ending, but as people of faith, there is always a beginning after every ending.

“And what and how they will continue will be their journey,” she added. “But I know they have learned through this that they will never be left alone as they work through what God has for us next. We believe in those promises and those possibilities.”

She said she and the congregation were so warmly welcomed at Grace and they will forever be grateful for that.

“That has been evident from day one of the graciousness, of the hospitality, the inclusion by them.”

Rev. Patterson said the Grace congregation exhibited a willingness to sing the United songs with theirs.

“We sing the same songs, we sing some that are different, and we’re learning one another’s in this co-operation that has been going on now since last September.”

She said in her over 40-plus years of ministry over four provinces, she had never worshipped in a Lutheran church before, and when she walked into Grace last September for the first time, all she had to do was open the door and she knew they had found a new home.

“Because music speaks to me . . . there was music filling the building as I entered and there’s also been the music meaning, in a metaphorical way, the sounds and the smiles of the people.”

She has worked in other locations where churches have had to amalgamate and/or close, saying she never thought she would witness joy and a sense of peace in a decision that also brings understandable grief.

“I would emphasize that sense of peace that came over the people who voted that day unanimously, and once we had gone through months of discussion, and some stress and some turmoil, some tension. Always when tough decisions are being made, it doesn’t matter what kind of table or room you’re in, when it’s a tough decision, there’s lots of emotions.”

Rev. Patterson said once the decision was reached, their faces changed, their composure changed, and their deep sigh of relief insured they had come to peace with it.

She said some members of the congregation have already indicated to Grace Pastor Ralph Wiegold they will continue attending services there, noting they had worshipped with them occasionally from September through June, and all summer, there has only been the Lutheran service.

She said the last United service was the last Sunday in June and everyone in the congregation that could be there on Sundays, continued to attend the Grace service.

Rev. Patterson said when the Grace congregation learned the United congregation was holding its final service on Sunday, they cancelled their service to be in solidarity with their siblings in faith.

“They called and told me and I was left speechless for a moment.

“The relationship between Grace Lutheran and the Uniteds over this past year has just been amazing to witness,” she added.     

Sunday’s service started at 10:15 with a number of hymns chosen by the congregation. Rev. Patterson presided over the service and a social was held afterwards in the church hall.