PETERSON — A shrinking and ever-aging congregation over the last decade has made selling a 93-year-old Morgan County church a necessity.

Members of Morgan Valley Christian Church are preparing to say goodbye to their place of worship with an open house at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Pastor Fred Smullin will be giving his last service in the quaint brick structure, erected in 1929, at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

“I think there is going to be a lot of tears in our last service,” congregant Margaret Kluthe said, trying to fight back emotions while speaking about the “very close knit congregation.”

While the church is unable to maintain building upkeep with a congregation made up mostly of those 60 years and older, Kluthe, a 21-year member of the church, said they are hoping to see the structure preserved so as to keep its memory and historical significance alive.

The structure, tucked away on a country road, served The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints community from the day it was dedicated by then-church President Herbert J. Grant on Nov. 5, 1929, until 1963.

According to the Morgan County Historical Society, the structure is the only local Latter-day Saints church from the early 20th century still standing in Morgan County.

An application for historic designation is being explored, Kluthe said. However, it will fall into the hands of new ownership to pursue.

Selling the church has been a topic of discussion for the last two years, but it was not until July when Smullin informed the congregation a vote on the matter needed to be taken because he would no longer be able to serve as their pastor.

Smullin, a part-time pastor for the church, has a full-time job as Salt Lake City employee. According to Kluthe, many members of the church find it increasingly difficult to drive the rural roads to attend service during the winter months.

“Often, there are only a dozen of us,” she said of Sunday service during nice whether.

Constructed for $14,000 by the Harbenson brothers of Ogden nearly a century ago, the building was appraised for $450,000.

All profits from the potential sale are planned to go directly to the Evergreen Association of Baptist Churches in Seattle, earmarked for Camp UTABA in Liberty.

Currently, there are two offers being made on the building, which church members are requesting be turned into a community center.

According to Kluthe, some interested buyers are accepting of the idea and willing to let the church continue to meet there. In the meantime, church members will be meeting in private homes once a month as they will no longer have a pastor on a regular basis.

With the doors shutting on the church’s history with the building, the church is asking the public to share their stories through the church website at mvccut.org, Facebook page or by email to mkluthe@gmail.com.

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