East Brady church to close doors March 29
EAST BRADY — With an aging population that is dwindling in numbers, the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church of East Brady has decided to close its doors. The last service is set for 3 p.m. March 29.
The Rev. Peter Sears, who has pastored the church since 2003, said membership has declined since the late 1980s, when 75 people attended.
"By 1992 it was 55," Sears said. "By the time I came here it was 35."
Current membership is about 15.
Dan Harris, an elder who has attended the church since childhood, said longtime members are passing away or moving, but today's demographics reflect a more transient population in East Brady, made up of about 1,200 residents.
"The families that have raised children in town: the children have to leave to find employment. We don't get a lot of influx," he said.
"Church attendance is down throughout the country, but I think it's compounded when you're in a rural area with very few jobs," he added.
"I see jobs leaving. I see farms shutting down. The only thing that's growing is I see the wildlife coming back."
Sears said the church has managed to remain debt-free, partly because of generous tithing and partly because the position required a pastor to be bi-vocational from the start.
A pastor for 20 years, Sears supplemented his income in East Brady by selling scooters and later by doing property inspections for insurance companies. He recently received training to do quality assurance work, but is unsure if work is available.
After the final service, ownership of the brick structure near the Allegheny River on Kelly's Way will revert to the Christian and Missionary Alliance district office in Punxsutawney. According to assistant superintendent Phil Harrison, the district has made no decision on how to proceed.
If the district sells the church and nearby pastor's quarters, proceeds will be reinvested in the ministry "with priority given to starting new churches," Harrison said.
"The reserve fund is not used for any regular type of expenditure," he added.
According to CMA records, the church was started by Miss Belle Elliott in the mid-1920s as the Union Gospel Mission. Although some services were likely held in Elliott's home, 88-year-old Josephine Frazer recalls children's meetings and Sunday services also offered in a hotel basement. Tent meetings also were hosted, Frazer added.
According to church records, the mission became the Mission Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in 1936 under the leadership of the Rev. Albert Brown.
"I'm sad because I went there even before it was organized," Frazer said. "Sometimes things that you're sad about still can't be helped."
<b>WHAT: </b>Final service at Christian and Missionary Alliance Church of East Brady featuring former pastors and music by the Harmonics quartet<b>WHEN: </b>3 p.m. March 29<b>WHERE: </b>707 Kelly’s Way, East Brady<b>INFO: </b>724-526-3109
