COTESFIELD — Next Sunday, the Cotesfield United Methodist Church will be overflowing with worshippers. Members of the 138-year-old church expect nearly 140 guests to fill up its 130 seats.
But today, it will likely be just the usual three parishioners, who will gather in the church’s basement just a week before it will close for good.
"We’ll go out with a bang," said Esther Tuma, who has attended the Cotesfield church ever since the Dannevirke Church closed in the 1960s.
Although the official rolls state a congregation of 33, Tuma said the most that attended any one service in the past year was 10.
She and another member, Helen Lassen, said they began talking of the closure in January.
"We knew where it headed," Tuma said. "We finally put the pen to the paper and figured out how long we could keep going.
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"We just aren’t getting the attendance," she said, adding that the average age of the congregation has continued to climb. The members range in age from 55 to 94.
In the 1990s, the Wednesday night children’s program was moved to the Elba United Methodist Church because more of the participants were coming from the sister church six miles away. The two churches still share a pastor.
Lassen said once they lost the children’s program, it was hard to convince the younger families with children to come to church in Cotesfield.
Since the number of worshippers dropped, they began to change a few things, such as the room where they worship during the winter.
"It didn’t make sense to heat the whole sanctuary for just three people," Tuma said, adding that during the cold months, they meet in the basement.
"It has really saved money on the heating bills," Lassen said.
The two women said it also has gotten hard to carry on the tradition of serving coffee and lunch after church.
"What do you make for just three people?" Tuma asked with a laugh.
They have kept up a tradition that started about six years ago at the end of the Christmas season. When it came time to take down the Christmas tree, they decided it looked "too pretty to take down." So they kept it up year round, changing the decorations to fit the seasons.
It becomes a Valentine’s tree, then a St. Patrick’s tree and even a July Fourth tree.
In 1874, the Cotesfield congregation began meeting in the dugout home of one of the members. The next year, they moved to the schoolhouse, and by 1889, membership had grown to 45.
The first church was built in 1899 about half a mile south of town. Soon it was decided to move the church building to the growing town of Cotesfield. Church member Robert Kirkpatrick donated a lot, and the church was moved in 1906. By 1911, membership had reached 91.
On May 9, 1921, lightning struck the church and it burned. Members worked quickly to raise money and build a new building, which was dedicated on Oct. 30 of the same year.
Several remodeling projects have been done to the 1921 building, such as the addition of a restroom in 1967, but otherwise it remains much the same.
Tuma and Lassen said they were glad to find a buyer for the building. It was sold for $1 and will be moved to south of Dannebrog to be remodeled into a residence.
The bell and sign will be moved to the Cotesfield Cemetery.
"I just didn’t want to see it deteriorate or get burned down," Lassen said.
The congregation members will go their separate ways. Lassen said she will probably go to church in Elba, and Tuma, who lives out in the country, said she may try the church at Nysted.
However, they noted that the congregation at the Elba United Methodist Church also is getting older, and it’s possible that it won’t be many years before that congregation also gets too small to support a church of its own.