Collingwood United Methodist Church to close

Final worship service to be held June 22

6/11/2014

A historic Methodist church that has been a part of the Library Village community in West Toledo for more than 190 years will hold its final worship service on 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 service, said Rhonda Wheeler spokesman for the congregation. She said the members voted to close the church because they can no longer maintain the large campus.

The church was first organized on Oct. 23, 1823, and members built the first building in a different location, The Methodist Episcopal Church of Port Lawrence at 320 Phillips Ave., in 1833 on a site currently occupied by ITW Ransburg Electrostatic Systems.

In 1870, a new church was built on the current 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 height, the church had about 1,400 members with about 400 who regularly attended each week, said Ms. Wheeler.

“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 that was added on in the 1950s is very expensive to maintain, she said. The education center was being used by the Summit Academy Charter school but when they left about a year ago the members decided they needed 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 is working to find a new occupant, she said.

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