After more than 100 years of hosting worship, Roeland Park United Methodist Church is closing.
The church at 5110 Cedar St. will host its last service this Sunday, June 25.
The congregation voted to close the church
- Pastor Yolanda Byers, who was appointed to lead the church nearly a year ago, said the church’s congregation had the opportunity to decide the future of Roeland Park UMC and voted in January to close.
- A major contributing factor to their collective decision is the aging and declining health of its members, Byers said. Their current membership is less than 100.
- Byers added that younger generations, like millennials and Gen-Z, may be less religious overall and could also be partial to virtual worship.
- “Membership has declined across all mainline denominations and, of course, that has all hit the United Methodist Church and particularly some of our smaller churches,” Byers said. “Unfortunately, Roeland Park UMC is no exception. This decline has come over a number of decades.”
Roeland Park UMC’s roots go back to the early 20th century
- Roeland Park UMC began as a home-based bible study group in 1911 and the congregation went through various names and locations over the years.
- The cornerstone of the building on Cedar Street was laid in 1947, and the congregation operated there until 1968, when they merged with a local Methodist church to become Roeland Park United Methodist Church.
- Roeland Park UMC held a special remembrance ceremony on June 4 to honor the church and its history.
- Some current congregants have been lifetime members, making the decision to close a difficult one, Byers said.
- “Some members are still in shock, and it is a grieving process, a painful process to go through,” Byers said. “We’ve had someone that’s been a member there almost their entire life — that’s 70 years of membership and activity.”
The church wants to maintain its Roeland Park footprint
- A final service is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 25, according to the church’s marquee sign.
- But Byers said the church hopes to find ways to maintain its presence in the city — including continuing its regular food pantry service at the Roeland Park location for the immediate future.
- The future of the building itself is yet to be determined, Byers said.
- “Roeland Park UMC was embraced by the community when they put the church in that location, and was also a great uniter of that particular area of Johnson County,” Byers said.
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