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Financial struggles forces nearly 200-year-old church to close

By WHIO Staff
By WHIO Staff

DAYTON — One of the oldest churches in the Miami Valley will hold its last service this weekend.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, the First Lutheran Church has sat on the corner of First and Wilkinson Streets in downtown Dayton for nearly 200 years, but it can no longer afford to stay open.

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First Lutheran Church Council Member Paul Tober said the decision to close has been emotional.

Tober’s family has been attending this church for over 40 years.

“It was a congregation. We were looking for the people, and that’s what drew us to this church,” Tober said.

The church started to see a drop in attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic. They started having conversations about closing shortly after.

“Can we really afford this structure as beautiful as it is? It’s expensive to keep up,” Tober said.

From utility bills to other expenses, like the maintenance of the organ.

“Few years ago, we had the leather done. Most people don’t know there’s even leather in an organ, and it cost us $40,000,” Tober said.

This church once held multiple services every Sunday with hundreds of people in attendance, but now it only holds one.

Tober said they are also struggling to keep a minister at the church, as their main minister left in 2022.

“They’re looking for congregations that have growth, and we weren’t experiencing that,” Tober said.

The Bishop of the Lutheran Senate will come and hold the final service at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

“To bless the congregation the church and decommission the church, more or less,” Tober said.

The council wants to sell the property to another church, but a large structure like this will cost millions of dollars.

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