LAKELAND, Fla. -- Fewer people are going to church and it's led many churches to close their doors, such as St. David's Episcopal Church in Lakeland.
- St. David's Episcopal Church to close
- Last church service held Sunday
- Congregation to join St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
According to a 2014 Pew Research Center telephone survey of more than 35,000 Americans, only 36 percent attend religious services once a week.
Several members of St. David's Episcopal Church cried as they celebrated the passing of the peace, the last communion and the last sermon in their church home, a place that opened its doors to worshippers back in 1953.
"It's kind of stunning to me for this to happen but it's a sign of the times I suppose," longtime member Dick Johnson said.
Others called it a surprise and said they'll never forget the weddings, baptisms, funerals and even yoga classes held at the church.
A decline in membership and an aging population is being blamed for the downfall.
"Poor decisions, a significant amount of squandering of extraordinary resources over the last 42 years has brought us here, Rev. Canon Tim Nunez said. "But clearly, one of the truths about St David's is we've lost a number of families along the way."
The church was packed during its last service, but on an average Sunday it would have about 120 parishioners. It could hold 400.
"The property is just massive," said Rev. Robert Moses, who was the rector for the last six years. "It's just a very big property for us to take care of and most of our money was spent on property and that's not what we're about."
This was Moses' first Episcopalian church where he served as priest.
The congregation is set to merge with St. Stephen's Episcopal Church.
"We talked about planting a church somewhere else," Moses said. "We talked about renting somewhere but ultimately the merger with St. Stephen's, the consolidation made the most sense."
"All of these things were considered," Nunez told the congregation during his sermon. "But as we considered each and everyone one of them, none of them could fill the ongoing gap of an ongoing deficit of enormous proportions on an ongoing basis."
Moses said the Redemption Church of Lakeland is buying the property for $1.85 million and is set to move in this October.