Virginia Methodist Closure

Virginia Methodist Closure and Mainline Protestant Diversity

on July 27, 2016

This week the Virginian-Pilot documented a milestone few noticed: Park Place United Methodist Church, once the largest Virginia church in the denomination, quietly shut its doors. Closure of the majestic Norfolk, Virginia sanctuary, which can seat more than 1,000 worshipers, raises questions about the survival of Mainline Protestant churches hit hard by changing neighborhood demographics.

Can a Mainline Protestant church that once catered to middle-class whites survive when its neighborhood attracts new residents outside of its traditional constituency?

The Pilot article indicates that Park Place diminished from its World War II-era heights long ago, with much of the congregation departing for the suburbs in the 1960s. A cursory glance at neighboring congregations reveals Park Place isn’t alone in its predicament: Knox Presbyterian, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has only 35 members and 24 attendees on a typical Sunday, while the nearby First United Presbyterian Church is down to 55 worshipers and 110 members (actually a recent increase). Adjacent to the neighborhood, but not in it, Episcopal Church of the Epiphany also appears to have declined with attendance in the 70s.

There are healthy churches in Norfolk: Baptist churches are sprinkled across the city, and nondenominational Evangelical churches are nearby. A vibrant Anglican church plant meets only three blocks from the shuttering United Methodist church.

But for Park Place, it reads as though the seed-corn of any future congregation was eaten long ago: an ethnic white country club can’t survive if it doesn’t change to serve its new neighbors, and a niche vision results in a niche congregation.

The Pilot story interviews a longtime member at Park Place:

She remembers packed pews. Ladies with white gloves. Men with straw hats. Weddings. Baptisms. Overflowing classes and collection plates.

“Our peak was probably around the close of World War II,” [Sue] Davis said. “One service – I think it was our biggest – had 2,500 people. We even had our own gym.”

Membership has dwindled over the years at the Park Place United Methodist Church but at one time the congregation was very large. Pastor Stephen Wall-Smith holds an old photo taken in June 1922 of the men’s Bible-study class posing in front of the church on West 34th St. in Norfolk.

Like most of yesterday’s members, Davis lived in Park Place back then. “It used to be such a lovely neighborhood,” she said.

The slide started more than 50 years ago when looming school desegregation sent families running for the suburbs.

We have a pretty good idea at this point why Park Place died. Why wasn’t it reborn?

Wayne Snead, a superintendent for the Methodist Church district that oversees Park Place, said the building will remain open as a mission center while an advisory team “tries to come up with a plan for how to re-launch the congregation.”

One or two old-timers intend to stay on – the seeds of the next flock. Leading them will be the first African American at the church’s helm, according to Wall-Smith.

Arthur Devine Jr., who has assisted from the pulpit in the past, is taking over. He’ll be focused on building a more inclusive congregation.

“I think this church has paid for not having that in the past,” he said.

Church diversity studies have already shown that Mainline Protestant churches are not just majority white, they are really – really – white. Even denominations that once had a token minority presence, such as the Episcopal Church, are somehow becoming less diverse in the 21st century, even as they make a conscious effort to appoint minority leaders. The United Methodist Church is 94 percent white, according to the Pew Research Center.

Some Evangelical churches such as the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) found recent success in diversifying their congregations, and groups like the Assemblies of God and the Seventh-Day Adventists achieved substantial diversity in recent decades. Can Mainline Protestants do the same?

  1. Comment by Patrick98 on July 27, 2016 at 10:23 am

    “Can Mainline Protestants do the same?” Only if they are willing to sacrificially love their neighbors.

  2. Comment by Namyriah on July 27, 2016 at 11:24 am

    Add another mainline church in Norfolk to that list: First Christian (Disciples of Christ). Their attendance declined to the point that in 2009 they merged with another shrinking congregation, Diamond Springs Christian in Va Beach. I attended worship at First back in the early 1990s, lots of empty pews there.

    FWIW, the international mission boards of the Disciples and the United Church of Christ have merged, called the Common Global Ministries Board. In 2013 they began sharing staff for some domestic ministries. We’ll probably be seeing a lot more of this as the mainlines decline.

  3. Comment by Jeff Walton on July 28, 2016 at 11:00 am

    Yes, and both the Disciples and UCC have had a shared public policy office for some time. I’ve said before that the UCC will cease to exist within 20 years, likely merged into another church — certainly the Disciples would be a potential partner.

  4. Comment by Philip on July 27, 2016 at 11:25 am

    I monitored various AC’s this year and I looked up some the churches that closed in the NE, GA, and FL. Most were closed for the same reason: the local demographics changed and the new population just aren’t Methodists. Too bad we are engulfed by other issues, as this is would a worthwhile endeavor on how to figure out re-church planting.

  5. Comment by Joe on July 27, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    UPPER Middle Class whites.

    I just wanted to clear that up. I doubt that working/lower Middle class whites ever had much influence with the direction of this congregation. If they did, history might be very different.

  6. Comment by Smith on December 5, 2019 at 7:54 pm

    The congregation of Park Place, Norfolk, Va., should be commended for remaining open to 2016. The congregations of nearby Park Place Baptist Church and Christian Temple United Church of Christ should also be commended for remaining open into the 2000’s. All three churches probably should have left Park Place in the 1950’s before the neighborhood had fully declined.

    The neighborhood surrounding the church has not been a nice place to live for over 60 years. Roughly beginning in the 1950’s, many of the single family homes were subdivided into apartments. The neighborhood quickly became a slum. I don’t think anything could have been done to reverse the decline.

    Park Place Church is huge. Although from the outside the building does not appear to be in disrepair, the Virginian-Pilot noted in 2016 that none of the building was up to code. Hopefully some of the building can be repurposed by a new congregation which might have more appeal to area residents or a religious organization where location is not as important. However, I fear the next step will be to tear it down after a long period of decay and vandalism.

    The nearby old Church of the Ascension(Episcopal) is now occupied by an Ethiopian congregation. Long over due repairs have been done to the 100 year old building. Good for them! Hopefully the congregation will thrive and remain in Park Place.

    Some of the vandalism to these buildings occurred many years ago. For example, Christian Temple United Church of Christ, which only closed in about 2005, had rock size holes in the large stained glass window facing Llewellyn. Those holes were not made in recent years. The holes have been there since at least 1974. The window is high up. I suppose repairs were too expensive.

    I think it’s almost a miracle Park Place Methodist remained open all those years.

  7. Comment by dsmith on December 6, 2019 at 7:12 pm

    The congregation of Park Place Methodist Church should be commended for remaining open to 2016. The surrounding neighborhood started to decline in the 1950’s. As residents moved away, their single family homes were converted into apartment buildings. The demographics of Park Place quickly changed from mostly middle and lower middle class white to mostly black and poor. Crime became rampant. Decline was inevitable. As far as I know, the Methodist Church has never had much appeal among the black population of Tidewater, even after integration. Most black’s identifying as Methodist seem to belong to the A. M. E., A. M. E. Z., and C. M. E. churches. Over 100 years ago, Spencer churches were once active in Norfolk as well. Since integration, at least two congregations have been started which have specifically targeted the black population. As far as I know, neither has done well. Martin Luther King, Jr. United Methodist Church in Portsmouth merged with a historically white congregation some years ago and since then, the combined congregation has closed. Norfolk United Methodist Church, although still open, seems to still be small and struggling. The only other black United Methodist Church I know about was the small rural parish of Asbury United Methodist Church in southern Virignia Beach. That congregtion no longer appears in directories. I assume Asbury has either closed or left the United Methodist Church.

    Hopefully another church which might have more appeal to Park Place residents or isn’t as dependent on location can make Park Place United Methodist their new home, but honestly, I doubt that will happen. The building is huge and will require an established congregation or a congregation which is rapidly expanding to fill it. Although from the outside the church appears to be in relatively good repair, the Virginian-Pilot noted in 2016 none of the building is up to code.

    Nearby is the 100 year old former Episcopal Church of the Ascension. Ascension moved out of Park Place in the 1950’s. Several years ago the old and decaying building was occupied by an Ethiopian Orthodox congregation. Long over due repairs have occured.. Good for them! I hope they succeed and will remain in Park Place.

    DS

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