Mypolonga Uniting Church holds final service

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A bigger crowd than usual has gathered for a service and morning tea at Mypolonga Uniting Church on Sunday.

Anne Martin, who had been involved with the church for 40 years, said it was a quiet reflection and farewell.

“In early days I used to be one of the youngest ones here; now I’m probably one of the older ones,” she said.

“We love this church and we really enjoy our friendship and fellowship through the church.”

A safety audit around a year ago brought up electrical and wall structure issues in the century-old building.

“At this stage we only have about four or five regulars here, so it got to the point that the $110,000 we were gonna have to put in was not justified,” Ms Martin said.

“We’ve tried a few different things to keep people interested in the church, but a lot of people are spiritual but not necessarily church-goers.”

Des Wymme, a dedicated church-goer, was married and all nine of his children baptised at the church

“I don’t think you get anything better to be quite honest, a small community, you know everybody, it makes a big difference,” he said.

Mr Wymme said he understood the need to shut the church, as some Sunday services there had fewer than four attendees.

Reverend Darren Lovell started the final service by saying it was a celebration of an ending and a time to say goodbye.

“The church is not the building, the church is the people,” Mr Lovell said.

The church was first opened in 1922 and recently celebrated its centenary.

Notes of the hymns flowed out of the church and into the community for a final time.