SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Members of some United Methodist Churches around the region will have to find a new place to worship. Five churches are set to close in Central New York including Rockefeller United Methodist Church of Syracuse on Nottingham Road.
The communications director for the Upper New York Conference says the church first makes the decision then it is voted on at the annual conference. Some churches have closed because of a decline in attendance but the reason varies at each church.
The conference trustees decide what to do with the property and churchgoers just move their membership to another United Methodist Church.
"We see it as a natural part of the life cycle of a church. That, they open, they do ministry and eventually they close. When a church closes those funds from sale of property or whatever else are put into a fund that then opens new communities of faith," said Steve Hustedt, United Methodist Church Upper New York Conference Communications Director
Those faith communities can include a bible study or a new church. All of the churches set to close will do so by July 1st.
For more information and a list of churches that will close, visit: www.unyumc.org/news