First Methodist Church in Aurora closing after 174 years
BY MATT BRENNAN Sun-Times Media/mbrennan@suntimes.com June 17, 2011 6:16PM
The First United Methodist Church at 60 S. Lincoln Ave. in Aurora, Feb. 21, 2011. | Marianne Mather~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: June 18, 2011 4:49PM
After a lifetime of attending the same church, John Roesch will soon be forced to find a new one.
Roesch has attended the First Methodist Church on Lincoln Avenue in Aurora for 76 years. His wife, Shirley, has gone there for 51 years.
He has had family in the church, starting with his great-grandfather, since 1866. His kids went there. His grandchildren were married there.
Now, after one final service at 10:30 a.m. on June 26, the church will shut its doors after 174 years due to declining membership.
“It’s kind of a sad day for sure,” John Roesch said.
Members of the church will ring its bell 17 times at the service, one for each decade of the church’s service, and several former pastors will be present.
Membership at the church peaked in 1963 at 876. John Roesch remembers having to show up early on Easter Sunday to grab a seat in the sanctuary, which seats about 600 people.
Today membership has dwindled to about 27. They are just not attracting new members anymore, Shirley Roesch said. With membership declining, it remained too hard for the church to stay open.
“I think the sign of the times is there just aren’t a lot of people going to church anymore,” John Roesch said.
Samuel McCarty, one of the brothers credited with establishing the city of Aurora, helped found the church in 1837, when the village of McCarty’s Mills, settled in 1834, was renamed Aurora.
The church has survived divisions and natural disasters. Twice in the church’s 174-year history, members broke off to start new Methodist churches in Aurora.
After a strong wind storm in 1951 the steeple was deemed unsafe and was taken down. In 1953, the sanctuary suffered extensive damage when arsonists set fire to the building. The building was repaired and reopened.
The Roesches now sit every week in the pew where his grandparents sat. John Roesch said he enjoys looking up at the beautiful stained glass artwork throughout the sanctuary. He and Shirley will look around for a new church home, but they have not decided where they will attend.
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