Litchfield United Church of Christ building donated to the township

LITCHFIELD TWP. — The congregation of the Litchfield United Church of Christ recently decided to donate its more-than-100-year-old church to Litchfield Township. Casey Spangler works as the secretary and treasurer for the church. She said the congregation has existed for about 190 years. The church itself was built in 1895 and has always been in the same place at 3928 Avon Lake Road. Spangler has her own history with Litchfield UCC. She said it was the church she was baptized in and has attended since childhood. When she was a kid, about 30 people on average would attend service on Sunday. In 2021, she graduated from college and moved back home. Spangler said she became a lot more involved with the church at that point. Over the past 10 years, she noticed a decline in membership that sped up as a result of the pandemic. "At our most recent church service, which I believe was back in June, we only had about five or six people (there)," she said. "That's not counting the worship team." With few active members, Litchfield UCC struggled to find volunteers, Spangler said. "It was really only myself and one or two other people hosting the entire fundraiser or planning it all out," she said. "It's pretty difficult to keep going because we all have full-time jobs. It was difficult to keep doing an unpaid full-time job on top of our normal everyday lives." In February, the congregation voted to close the church itself because of low membership. Spangler said that although it was difficult, it was the right choice. "I try not to blame myself, even though there's really no blame," she said. "It's just COVID and the times really, but it's hard when you and only five or six other people on the council are the ones handling it. It's hard not to blame yourself because you know the church is closing on your watch." The UCC Association gave members options on how to proceed, Spangler said. They could sell the building and donate the proceeds, donate the building itself or demolish it. "We didn't want anything to do with the idea of demolishing it," she said. "We really want it to go to a mission where people can get use out of it, and it's not sitting and collecting dust. We want it to go to people that really need it." Church members formally approached the Litchfield trustees about donating the church building to the township during the July trustee meeting. At the Aug. 28 meeting, the trustees accepted the donation. "The township is run by taxpayer dollars," Spangler said. "Technically, the building would be owned by the citizens of Litchfield in a way, so we really liked that idea." Trustee Mike Pope said the township would like to put offices for township officials like the zoning inspector in the building, since Litchfield does not currently have enough space for that. "It's really incredible that you've offered this to the township," Chairman Joe Seifert said. "Coincidentally enough, we've spent a lot of time over the past year and a half talking about the need we have for space. We kicked around a lot of different ideas, all of which would cost the township a substantial amount of money. After touring the building, I think it would really meet a lot of needs for us, so we really appreciate that." Many members of the congregation are planning to transfer their membership to the Chatham Community Church, where Litchfield UCC Pastor Pam Hahn also preaches, Spangler said. As of now, there is not a formal timeline as to when ownership of the church will be transferred to the township. "The church has been giving to the township of Litchfield for well over 100 years," she said. "I feel like this was our way of giving back to them one last time." The final church service will take place at 9 a.m. Oct. 8. "We're trying to make that a really big celebration and have as many people come out as possible," Spangler said. "I'd personally love to see the church filled with people one last time. I just feel like it would be very rewarding to have people in there on Sunday for that last service." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.