For sale: Picturesque West Akron church overlooking Schneider Park.
Members of Christ United Methodist Church, faced with a shrinking congregation and building maintenance costs, have put the church property on the market.
The asking price for the church, built in 1951 and topped by a large steeple, is $299,000. It boasts more than 19,000 square feet.
Members of the congregation voted Sunday to approve a merger with Woodland United Methodist Church, which is at 444 N. Hawkins Ave. on the city’s west side. It is about 2½ miles from Christ United Methodist, which is at 380 Mineola Ave.
According to a church administrator, beginning July 1, the combined churches will be known as Christ Woodland United Methodist Church.
The Rev. Ed Peterson, superintendent of the Canal District of the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church, noted that Woodland, built in 1965, has lower maintenance costs than Christ United Methodist. The district includes Greater Akron.
Each congregation has an average Sunday attendance of about 50 people, he said.
Peterson echoed what many mainline church officials have said before: “There’s a continuing trend for churches to merge … churches like Christ United Methodist are trying to survive. Keeping up a large building becomes more financially burdensome.
Peterson said that in the East Ohio Conference there been “quite a few” churches that have merged or closed in the last decade or so. The conference, which has offices in North Canton, stretches from Lake Erie to the Ohio River and from Tiffin to the Pennsylvania and West Virginia borders.
The Christ United Methodist congregation is more than 85 years old. Its first Sunday school was at Rankin school in Akron in 1926, according to Peterson. In 1992, Akron’s Westlawn United Methodist merged with the church.
The Christ United Methodist property is being listed with NAI Cummins, a commercial real estate company with offices in Akron.
The church joins other Akron area churches on the market, including Akron Baptist Temple on Manchester Road; the former First Presbyterian Church on East Market Street (the congregation moved from the building more than two years ago , and the former High Street Christian Church in downtown Akron (the congregation moved in 2012).
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/KatieByardABJ.