CHRIS OCKEN
Mary Ann Sindelar was the pianist and organist at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Waukesha, Wis., which closed its doors in September.
leadership, was assigned to help both churches. In December 2012, Shiloh and Christ drafted a shared ministry document. Today, Walker divides her time with each congregation based on weekly worship attendance and spe- cial needs that arise. “To me, it’s very exciting and
energizing,” Walker said. “When I’m at one, it makes me think about how I can share what is going on there with the other. If there are things we can share, the two of us make a stronger one than if we had to do things on our own.”
Helping churches say goodbye Cooperative ministry can be effec- tive, especially for congregations where important work is happening.
26 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
But at some point it does come down to numbers.
“If you have 12 people on a
Sunday, you could be wonderful, spiritual folks, but I’m not sure how viable you are,” Eaton said. “When you get to be so small that you can’t pay the bills, people just get tired.” Gordy agreed: “When a congre-
gation is solely focused on survival and spends all its resources on that, I think it’s reached a point where it needs to look at whether it still has a mission in the community.” More than 1,000 ELCA churches have closed over the past 10 years, some merging with others, some simply shutting their doors and members dispersing. Regardless of the outcome, saying goodbye to a
community, a building and even a name can be painful. “There is a certain numbness
after a church closes,” said Ed Ruen, former interim pastor of Good Shep- herd Lutheran Church, Waukesha, Wis. The church closed its doors in September 2012 after a lengthy process of considering undergoing renewal or merging with a nearby congregation. Ruen said of the con- gregation, “They just threw them- selves into this parish for years. You don’t just pick up and move on right away.” Mary Ann Sindelar, who had been a member of Good Shepherd for 67 years, said, “When the church finally closed, I started thinking about how this had only been my second church. I felt like a man with- out a country.” Sindelar had served on the council and worship team,
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