‘I just don’t want to see it torn down;’ Church holds final service after nearly 200 years

One of the Miami Valley’s oldest churches held its last Sunday service.

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As reported Sunday on News Center 7 at 6:00, The First Lutheran Church held its final service after nearly 200 years in Dayton.

It has sat on the corner of First and Wilkinson Streets, but can no longer afford to stay open, as previously reported by News Center 7.

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News Center 7′s Malik Patterson spoke with church leaders about the closing of First Lutheran Church. It was one of the first churches in Dayton. It’s been around for 185 years.

Sunday’s service was different than the typical service.

The head of southwest Ohio’s Lutheran Church’s Bishop delivered Sunday’s message.

Patterson said the church lost its minister back in 2022. Members also stopped attending and changes had to be made.

200 people attended the service at First Lutheran Church. Many were people who had never been to the church.

But they wanted to see the historical church for the first and final time.

News Center 7 spoke with one man who hopes the church is kept up and not destroyed.

“I just don’t want to see it torn down frankly. So, if it becomes an event center, I don’t really care honestly. I just want to see it remain. See it up-kept because it’s beautiful,” said Conner Fazzari.

Patterson says the church council and Lutheran Bishop have to figure out who they can sell it to.

They want to sell it to another church, but it is going to cost millions.

We will update this story.

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