Maybrook residents held heavy hearts last month following the closure of the village’s United Methodist Church, located at 313 Homestead Avenue. After serving the village for over a century, the church was no longer able to sustain itself and closed its doors.

The church’s story begins with Ernest Grubb, secretary of the village’s former YMCA. In 1922, he and his wife attended a Methodist church service in Montgomery, led by Reverend William Winchell. The couple enjoyed the service and asked Reverend Winchell if he would preach a service at the YMCA. He accepted the request, and many people enjoyed his service at the YMCA. The attendees asked the pastor to organize a church in Maybrook, and he obliged. The church held its first business meeting on August 17, 1922, during which members appointed tellers and trustees.

The congregation initially operated out of the YMCA, then rented a building behind the village’s old post office on Main Street. The members sought to erect a dedicated church building, so they raised money toward the project for several months. They purchased the church’s property in 1923 and laid the cornerstone in 1924; the building cost $33,000 to construct. The church went under a few different names, including the Maybrook Methodist Episcopal Church and the Wandell Memorial Methodist Church, before becoming the Maybrook United Methodist Church.

Over the last century, the Maybrook UMC was a place of faith and community for countless village residents. The congregation not only provided worship services, but also supported residents in numerous ways. The church provided hunger relief through community dinners, food pantry supplies, and Thanksgiving meals; hosted family activities like Christmas fairs, Easter Egg hunts, and yard sales; and offered meeting spaces for alcohol anonymous groups.

What led to the church’s closure? Reverend Kihun Choi, a pastor who served the Maybrook UMC, stated that the church struggled with sustainability and a dwindling congregation. He noted that several congregation members passed away within the last five years, worsening the situation. Eventually, the church was unable to continue operating and held its final service on May 17. The United Methodist Church New York Annual Conference then voted to close the church on June 12.

“I would say sustainability was the main issue. The church had a small and amazing congregation, but many people passed away in the last five years, so sustainability was not stable,” Reverend Choi said on July 5. “The church’s last service was on May 17, and on June 12, there was a conference-level vote. The United Methodist Church New York Annual Conference gathered and officially voted to close the building.”

Following the church’s closure, the former members began worshiping at the Walden UMC and Bullville UMC. As for the property, the UMC New York Annual Conference will handle the estate sale. The conference does not have any plans for the property yet.

“The New York Annual Conference will take care of the selling process,” Reverend Choi said on July 5. There’s a trustee in the annual conference who is going to take care of the building. There are no plans for the building yet.”

Reverend Choi stated that the church’s closure was a sad and uneasy experience for many of its members. He assured, however, that a church is defined by its members, not by its building. He appreciates everyone who attended and served the church over the years, and he believes that they made the church as amazing as it was.

“It’s not an easy feeling to close and say goodbye to a church. But I will say that the church is not the building, the church is the people. So I pray for all the people; even though the building was closed, there is still hope within the people,” Reverend Choi said on July 5. “I appreciate all of the Maybrook church members and their dedication to serving the community very well. Their hearts are for the community and God.”