Members vote to close church

LIVERMORE — Members of the Livermore United Methodist Church have voted to close their church, Pastor Ami Sawtelle said. The last service will be at 9 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 13.

The congregation is getting older and not growing, she said. You have to have more young people become members for a congregation to grow.

Members made the decision on Aug. 29. Instead of merging with another church, they'll individually or as a family choose which church they would like to attend, Sawtelle said.

There has been a Methodist Church at the site of the church on Church Street in Livermore, located off routes 4 and 108, since the mid-1800s, she said.

The building will be given to the New England Annual Conference, which will decide what to do with it. Some of the contents will be brought to the Eaton Memorial United Methodist Church in Livermore Falls, where Sawtelle is also pastor.

dperry@sunjournal.com