With only ten members left, the United Methodist Church in Palmyra was put up for sale. With a buyer in the wings, what are the plans for the 153 year-old church?
For more than 153 years, the First United Methodist Church has stood, regal and majestic as one of Palmyra’s famous four-corner churches. But since the last day of June 2019, when its congregation held its final service, the house of worship has laid empty.
With its membership dwindled to just 10, nine of them voted in 2018 to close the church by summer 2019. After the June 30 service, the “For Sale” signs from Howard Hanna Real Estate went up. The church became one of the eight to 15 UMC churches in the Upper New York Conferences each year that closes its doors for good.
But just last week, word was received that, while it might not be a UMC church again, the building, which was constructed in 1867, might once again be a religious entity. Todd Wenzel, an agent with Howard Hanna’s commercial division, said a gentleman has expressed interest in purchasing the building and its five-bedroom manse and establishing it as a church once again.
Wenzel confirmed that the man, who has declined to identify himself or give details about what denomination the church might be, because the deal is not finalized, has made a legitimate purchase offer. Wenzel acknowledged that the offer was not as much as the $349,000 the Upper New York Conference had wanted, but both sides were satisfied with the negotiations.
“This individual wants to keep it as a church,” Wenzel said. “There are some details that still have to be worked out, and ,when they are, he said he would be happy to answer more questions, but the consensus is that everyone really wants to keep it as a house of worship. On that corner, you don’t want three churches and an office building.”
According to an article that was written by Upper New York Conference last spring, after it was decided the church would close, Palmyra and the surrounding area has a rich history of Methodism. It’s one of the reasons there are no less than seven UMC churches in the area, which probably contributed to declining membership for some. The Palmyra congregation was established in 1797, incorporated in 1824 and, after meeting in two other locations, built the existing church in 1867 at 109 Church St..
The ornate 7,150 square-foot, church, with its beautiful stained glass windows, seats about 200 people in its main sanctuary. A massive pipe organ that was installed in the back of the church in 1889 and still plays beautifully, according the Upper New York Conference article. But in recent years, the church’s remaining members couldn’t afford to heat the sanctuary, so they met in a room that was once the church nursery. It seats 30, but admittedly, hasn’t had that many attendees since the mid-2000s.
The historic home behind the church, traditionally the home of the minister of the congregation, is being sold with the church. It has five bedrooms, one and a half baths and is a sprawling 3,022 square feet. It has a two-car garage. Altogether, the parcel’s land area is 36,540 square feet. It has a market value of $1.4 million, if the property were on the tax rolls.
Although they could not be reached for this story, Judy Herrick and Ann Guest told the reporter who wrote the Upper New York Conference article that they have been member of the church “since they were infants in 1941 and 1945 respectively. They remember days when the large sanctuary was full especially for the Christmas Eve and Easter services.” So full that it was standing room only for all three of the Easter services, Herrick said.
The women remembered junior and senior choirs with at least 30 members. Guest recalled “gorgeous purple robes with gold stoles and there were amazing singers from young children all the way through members who are as old as I am now.”
But during that past few decades, membership numbers dropped. The Sunday school didn’t have enough youngsters to be sustainable, and children who grew up in the church, grew up and moved away and weren’t replaced by new members. Those who remained tried their best; the women recalled that as late as the Christmas holidays of 2018, members filled 471 shoe boxes with toiletries and other necessities for community groups.
They held chicken barbecues and pie sales, but there weren’t enough people to do even that.
After the vote to close, the Rev. Patience Kisakye was appointed to shepard the church through the process of closing. She told the Upper New York Conference writer that although “many generations of families have been members of this church and have been a strength, it has also been a downfall because it has been difficult for new members to assimilate.”
The Palmyra UMC’s Facebook page noted the church’s closing. “On June 30, 2019, after 153 years, the First United Methodist Church held their final worship service. If you are seeking a Methodist Church there are several nearby. Macedon Center UMC, Manchester UMC, Port Gibson UMC, South Perinton UMC, Walworth UMC, West Walworth UMC, Williamson UMC to name a few!”
Underneath that comment was one from Tracey Ann Bouwens Jelinek who wrote, “I remember attending this church as a little girl in the 70s. I still remember the beautiful pipe organ and the sound of the bell in the bell tower.”
Realtor Wenzel hopes that the church bells will ring again, if the man who wants to buy the building and keep it a house of worship is successful.
“I think that there is great interest by this gentleman, and in Palmyra itself, to keep the church a church,” Wenzel said.
