This story has been updated to fix an inaccuracy.
JACKSON TWP. − Members of St. Stephen Martyr Lutheran Church voted to “adopt” a sister congregation, Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Louisville, in 2021 to save it.
“At that time, we were going to do what we could to revitalize it,” said the Rev. Andrew Potsko, St. Stephen’s pastor of faith and community formation. “They were on the edge of closing it back then. We did regrow the congregation to twice its size, but there was a struggle to keep it going with resources and personnel. Churches everywhere are struggling.”
Now, it’s being sold.
There will be a sale of the church’s contents at the Louisville campus at 930 S. Nickelplate St. from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 19 and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 20.
All proceeds will be used to cover the operating costs of the building.
“Pretty much anything not connected to the building will be available for sale,” Potsko said, adding there will be a private presale for St. Stephen members.
Potsko said the acquisition of the Louisville church was based on a three- to five-year plan, which would be followed by an assessment. After the assessment was conducted last spring, St. Stephen’s council voted to close the campus and sell the building and its contents.
The last service was June 1.
Lutheran church history in the U.S.
In 1998, the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches merged to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, making it one of the two largest Lutheran churches in the U.S.
Like many Protestant churches, the ELCA’s numbers have shrunk. According to Graphs About Religion, the number of baptized ELCA members fell from 5 million in 2003 to 2.8 million in 2013.
In 2009, more than 250,000 people left the church after the ELCA’s Worldwide Assembly moved to affirm same-sex relationships.
The closing of St. Stephen’s Louisville campus means there is no longer a Lutheran presence in the city.
“It was one of the reasons we wanted to adopt Kountze Memorial,” Potsko said.
The ELCA churches nearest to Louisville include Israel’s Lutheran in Paris Township, St. Paul’s and Abiding Savior in Alliance, and Holy Trinity in Plain Township.
“I think a lot of people are grieving the loss,” Potsko said. “I personally loved the Louisville community. We were involved in Umbrella Alley, football game-day parking lot sales, the Constitution Day Parade, and a lot of community events that I will miss. But there are other churches there that will carry the call.”
To learn more about the sale, visit https://tinyurl.com/pukv7y3x.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: St. Stephen Martyr Lutheran Church is selling its campus in Louisville
Reporting by Charita M. Goshay, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
