Around 1911, the original 28 members of the Wilsonville United Methodist Church gathered in their new church building. Located along Boones Ferry Road, the building was right in the center of town.
Over a century later, the Wilsonville United Methodist Church will permanently close on May 19, when a final service will be held.
Karyn Haaga, the staff-parish relations chair for the church, said congregation numbers for the church started declining before the coronavirus pandemic.
Many members of the church have moved out of town, to a new church or passed away. Haaga added that the church has not had an active teen youth program since 2004 or a children’s Sunday School since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. She said some members left the church to seek a youth program elsewhere.
Rev. Karen Shimer, pastor at the church, estimated about 50-60 people attended church regularly in 2008, and now Haaga estimates 12-14 consistent attendees. They said there have been discussions around how long the church could remain open with the declining membership in the last several years.
“We have a decent sized facility and yard, and normally that’s cared for by volunteers,” Hagga said, adding that the church is generally run by volunteers. “We just looked at the circumstances and thought ‘we can’t sustain this with the number of people who are still coming.’”
The congregation has used a building along Wilsonville Road since 1992, but it was originally founded in the old church building that is now a McMenamins along Boones Ferry Road. Haaga said she joined the church in 1990, just before it moved to the new building.
She described the congregation’s end as “bittersweet.”
“Just looking at all the history, and my kids having grown up in this church and all the participation of the community and everything we’ve done, it’s hard to know that’s going to change,” Haaga said.
To Haaga, the church is special for its spirit of giving and sharing. Shimer said the church members have a shared passion for giving food to those in need, and in the past people who brought refreshments to church gatherings would intentionally bring enough to send food home with those who need it.
The church also has strong ties with Wilsonville Community Sharing, which operates a local food bank, along with Clackamas Women’s Services, which supports victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Shimer also noted the church’s art scholarship for students at Wilsonville High School, which awarded students between $500 and $750 in the past. This year, she said two students were granted $1,000 scholarships.
As the church prepares to close its doors, it will donate some of its items — such as a sizable collection of choir sheet music and the grand piano — to other churches. The church has an endowment fund of approximately $20,000 that it will donate to its existing ministries at the congregation’s vote.
Some members have discussed having a small bible study, and the congregation’s gardeners will work to grow food at home and donate to the food bank.
The building itself will become fully available to the Early Years child care, which has leased space from the church for the last three to four years and is not affiliated with the church, Shimer said. She added that knowing the space will be used and provide a safe space for children brings joy to her heart.
Shimer wants the Wilsonville United Methodist community to know that their efforts for the community will not be lost or wasted.
“Every ounce of love and energy, and every bit of food and service, has affected and transformed people’s lives,” Shimer said. “And those people will never be the same.”
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