The past few Sundays have been a break from tradition for the devoted congregation of the Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Dating back to April, churchgoers of the 105-year-old church on Walton Avenue told the Bronx Times that their deacon vanished without explanation. And without warning, on June 11, doors to the church, they say, were locked.
In lieu of hymns sung in exaltation inside the church, at a June 15 rally, members of the church sang a different tune: “Save our church!”
The answer to what’s going on with the church, according to the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — which operates roughly 190 congregations in the city — is that the church is headed for a permanent closure.
“Throughout the years, we have provided financial and pastoral support to the Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church — but we have come to the inevitable conclusion that administrative hurdles and insurance concerns mandate that we cease funding for the church,” a spokesperson from the Metropolitan New York Synod’s office told the Bronx Times.
Officials from the synod said that they still are “fully prepared” to provide pastoral care, and said other congregations in the area are ready to welcome devoted churchgoers to its pews as the church transitions out of use. Adjoining property to the church, such as a pantry and flea market are still in operation, but the place of worship where pews and prayers have been held for a century is now closed.
Back in March, the fate of the church seemed to rest on the desire of the community members, some who have been attending the church for 30-40 years. Congregation members told the Bronx Times that on March 26, representatives from the synod sought consensus on the future of the church, which was met with overwhelming resistance by patrons at the prospect of its closure.
“We’ll roll up our sleeves, we want to be part of the answer, but the senate won’t sit down with us,” said Muñiz, who noted a large portion of the church are seniors.
Patricia Jewett, a church council member, said that information on the financial status of the church is one of the many unanswered mysteries that congregation members have been left to figure out over the past few months.
“It seemed that the closer we got to put the answers in place, that’s when they pulled the rug from under us,” said Jewett, who said they’ve been unable to get information about money and accounts from the treasurer, who also hasn’t been heard from in months.
The treasurer, elected by the Synod Assembly, is accountable for the management of synod monies and accounts, investments and an annual report on the financial status of a given congregation.
For some, church closures are not only a disruption in routine, but also a break in community.
Shirley Smith, a 30-year resident, has experienced the sting of a church closure once before, when St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church at 222 E. 178th St. closed back in 2012. Smith was told that her family should start attending the Fordham Lutheran church, but now she’ll be searching for her third congregation to join.
Five Pew surveys conducted since the start of the pandemic (beginning with a survey in July 2020) shows that roughly 40% of Americans said they have participated in religious services on a regular or semi-regular basis, either in-person or virtually. However, a decline in regular church attendance rates and, in some cases, the physical presence of religious gathering is declining.
The share of U.S. adults who say they generally attend religious services once a month or more has dropped slightly, from 33% in 2019 to 30% in 2022, according to Pew. And churches, like Fordham Evangelical Lutheran, cite difficulties in maintaining the financial capital to stay open.
According to a 2020 survey by Faith Communities Today, a multireligious and collaborative research initiative, the average congregation size across Christian denominations is less than half what it was in 2000 — down to 65 from 137.
A third of churchgoers, on average, are 65 or older, twice that age group’s representation in the general population. These numbers hold true for Protestant, Evangelical and Catholic sects.
And attracting a new generation of churchgoers could be difficult, as the proportion of Americans who say that they are irreligious has risen steeply, from about 5% to about 25%.
Younger Americans are less likely in general to identify as religious or attend services — the 2021 General Social Survey found that 41.5% of Americans between 18 and 29 said they never attend services, with only 20.6% saying they attend more than once a month.
— ET Rodriguez contributed to this report
