Jeff Heuchert
Staff Reporter

A diminishing membership brought on by an aging congregation has forced a  church in the city’s west end to closed its doors for good.

St. Matthew Lutheran Church  held its final service this past Sunday, Jan. 17.

Pastor Dan Kitsch, who served at the church for the past seven years, told the Gazette last week the decision to close was not an easy one, but one that was necessary.

He noted the church, which is part of Lutheran Church Canada (LLC), was averaging only about 25 people a service, a far cry from when it began about 45 years ago, first worshipping in the old Avon School before moving into a permanent location at the corner of Britannia Street and Forman Avenue.

“There was a lot of meetings, discussions and decisions that had to be made about finances ... (and) it seemed like the inevitable decision that had to be made,” he said.

Over the past couple of years the church tried different outreach initiatives offered by LLC, but couldn’t recover from the loss of baby boomers, noted Kitsch.

“Stratford isn’t Kitchener,” he added, “a lot moved away to go find work, went off to university and never came home, and things like that, and it just erodes the church when you’re missing a generation.”

The church’s Sunday school was also hurt by changing family demographics, Kitsch said, noting today’s families have on average one or two children, whereas in the past they’d have four or five.

Kitsch said the closure has been difficult on the congregation.

“There’s anger and disappointment, frustration and sadness; it wasn’t a decision that was easy to come to, and it wasn’t a decision that anyone liked making.”

Kitsch, who is also pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Tavistock, said the church building and its property were sold to a developer, who has since sold the building to Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, which will ensure the building is used as a church. The land, meanwhile, is expected to be developed as residential.

Kitsch noted the church’s remaining  assets will be distributed to through  LLC to churchs in the area, service organizations and local charities the church has supported in the past.