(CHRISTIAN POST) – After hosting generations of worshipers beginning in 1800 when there were only 16 states, a 221-year-old church in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, is now among the latest casualties of the decline of American Christianity as it permanently closed its doors on Christmas Eve due to declining membership and attendance.
The 15,000-square-foot First Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, located at 203 North Spring Street, had only 40 members before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Centre Daily Times, which reports that the church now has about 25 members and only 12 attend in-person worship services.
“There’s just such a love among this congregation. We’ve all known each other so long and we know each other’s foibles,” church elder Candace Dannaker told the publication. “I’ll miss our personality, our laughter and our joy in just being together. And, of course, the faith aspect of sharing that with other like-minded people.”
