Collingwood United Methodist Church to close

Congregation organized in 1823

6/12/2014
BLADE STAFF
With about 30 typically attending services, Collingwood United Methodist Church’s building is too expensive.
With about 30 typically attending services, Collingwood United Methodist Church’s building is too expensive.

A historic Methodist church that has been a part of Toledo for more than 190 years will hold its final worship service June 22.

The membership of Collingwood United Methodist Church, 701 Phillips Ave., has dwindled over the years to about 100 people with about 30 who regularly attend services, said Rhonda Wheeler, spokesman for the congregation.

She said members voted to close the church at the Five Points-Library Village area because they can no longer maintain the large campus.

The church was organized on Oct. 23, 1823, and members built the first building in a different location.

Originally called The Methodist Episcopal Church of Port Lawrence, the church was built in 1833 at 320 Phillips Ave. on a site currently occupied by ITW Ransburg Electrostatic Systems.

In 1870, a new church was built on the site and it then became Collingwood United Methodist Church, Ms. Wheeler said.

That building was eventually demolished and the current church was constructed on that site in 1914.

At its peak, the church had about 1,400 members with about 400 who attended each week, Ms. Wheeler said.

“We have been trying to sell the building for about a year,” she said.

The campus, which consists of the main sanctuary and an educational center added in the 1950s, is expensive to maintain, she said.

The education center was used by the Summit Academy Charter school but when it left about a year ago members decided to close the church, she said.

Ms. Wheeler said it is possible that another church will move into the structure.

The local governing body, the Maumee Watershed District of the United Methodist Church will assume ownership of the property and is working to find a new occupant, she said.

The church plans to hold a closing ceremony immediately following the final worship service June 22.