Pastor Hugh Lackey is in the bell tower of First Presbyterian Church of Sanford as a colorful light from the stained-glass windows spills into the room.  He grabs a metal chain dropping down from the ceiling and pulls hard, bending his knees.  With each pull, the large church bell resonates throughout downtown Sanford.  "There won't be many more times when I'll be doing this," Lackey said. "And we'll be ringing it loudly on our last day."  After 133 years, First Presbyterian Church of Sanford will shut its doors forever, and the congregation, one of the oldest in Central Florida, will dissolve after the last morning service Aug. 30.  The two-story red-brick building, which has stood at the corner of Third Street and Oak Avenue in Sanford's historic district since 1916, will be put up for sale.

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     "It's been a long journey," Lackey said. "But the reality is that maintaining this building has become too much of an expense. It's old, and we're having to put too much money into the building but not into the ministry. And that's not what it's all about."  At its peak, just more than four decades ago, First Presbyterian of Sanford had more than 1,000 members.  Hundreds of worshipers — elderly citizens and young families with small children — sat side by side in row after row of the church's hard-oak pews on Sunday mornings. Worshipers would slide over to make room for anyone coming in late.  The top balcony had an additional 127 wooden seats, each with a wire rack underneath so gentlemen could rest their hats.  But in recent decades, the number of parishioners dropped quickly.   Ten years ago, First Presbyterian of Sanford had about 200 members. Last year, there were about 30.  Today, the church has only 27 registered parishioners — although only about 15 of them actually attend the sole Sunday service, which starts at 9 a.m.

 

     "We could all just cry about it," said Collie H. Forbes, 87, who has attended First Presbyterian of Sanford since 1942, when she was a 14-year-old girl, even though her parents were Baptists.  "But the fact is that people are moving away, and kids are growing up, and no one new is coming in," she said. "There's nothing else we can do. There are so many repairs that need to be done at the church that it's just impossible."  Forbes married her first husband at First Presbyterian in January 1950. Her three children were baptized there.  And when her husband died in 1983, his funeral was held at the church. That was followed by her daughter's marriage ceremony in the church's sanctuary.  Forbes' second husband's funeral was also held at First Presbyterian after he was killed in the 1998 tornadoes that ripped through Seminole County.  Like most of the few remaining parishioners, Forbes will likely attend First Presbyterian Church of Lake Mary, where Lackey is also a pastor, after the Sanford church closes.  Declining membership in Presbyterian (USA) churches and other Protestant denominations is occurring nationwide, according to recent surveys.  According to the PC USA's Office of the General Assembly, the denomination's membership declined in 2014 by nearly 6 percent from the previous year. And in the previous three years, the drop in membership has been 15 percent.  Statistics also show that there were 209 fewer Presbyterian USA churches across the country last year than there were in 2013. 

 

     In Central Florida, there are 49 Presbyterian USA churches in Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. That includes the Sanford church.  No churches within that four-county area have closed within the past five years, according to the Central Florida Presbytery. However, Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeLand closed in June because of declining membership.

Many congregations nationwide have left the Presbyterian Church (USA) because of recent decisions, including removing prohibitions on openly gay clergy in 2011 and the church's constitution being changed in 2014 from defining marriage as a union between man and woman to a union between two persons.  "Churches will close because of declining memberships; they are just not growing because their members are aging out or because of people's theological disagreements," said Jodi Mask of the Central Florida Presbytery.

Forbes sees a more spiritual explanation.  "Sometimes I think that Satan gets in there and rips us apart," Forbes said.  And Pastor Lackey said as members age and die, fewer younger parishioners take their place.  "Some young people today say [attending church services] is not relevant," Lackey said. "But I think overall, with all mainline denominations, there is a decline."  First Presbyterian Church of Sanford was formed in 1883 in a wooden building with a steeple near its current location. In 1914, the congregation outgrew the small church, and the decision was made to build a larger church.  Joan Wilkes and her twin sister, Jean, have been members of First Presbyterian Church of Sanford since the late 1940s. Joan Wilkes has played the organ during Sunday services since 1956.  She also remembers seeing every pew filled with worshipers on Sunday mornings. But now on Sundays, she looks out into the sanctuary and sees only a handful of members.  "You looked forward to going to church to see your friends," she said. "But with the young people today, church is not the thing to do. … And a church that doesn't have any youth cannot survive."  But Lackey said he expects the pews to be filled one last time during his church's last service later this month.  "I still have people who walk in and say: 'I was baptized here' or 'I was married here,'" he said.  "It's amazing. … But there is clearly a sadness. On Aug. 30, 2016 we will be celebrating. "But there will also be a lot of tears."