Grace Methodist Church In Bangor To Close After 164 Years

Grace Methodist Church in Bangor, which opened it's doors in 1855, will be holding it's last service on June 30th.

I guess all good things come to an end from time to time. My family has a long history with that church. When I was very little, we lived on 4th Street in Bangor, so Grace was just a stone's throw from the house. My grandmother went there. My mom. My sister was married there. Side story: At my sister's wedding my appendix blew up, so in all the photos, I look like I'm about to die. Because I was!

These days, there just aren't enough folks going there to justify keeping it open. According to the BDN, services have been hosting anywhere from 8 to 15 people. By comparison, the average attendance at First United Methodist on Essex Street, is around 100 each week.

But during the service on April 28th, they announced that June 30th would be their last service. The building is in a dire state of disrepair, and there isn't enough money coming into the church to justify spending any more on it. Between structural issues with the belfry, repairs to the stained glass windows, and work on the boiler, the church has been living in a deficit.

At this time, it's unknown whether the building will be sold or not. And who knows what it would turn into from there. A house? A business? A restaurant? Hard to say. But come June 30th, it won't be a church anymore.

By the way, in the BDN article, scroll down and check out the really cool timeline, that gives a neat glimpse into the history of Grace Methodist.