CLEVELAND, Ohio — Broadway United Methodist Church, formed as a Sunday school in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood in 1872, is preparing to celebrate its last Christmas. The 92-year-old church building, which once held hundreds of worshippers at Sunday morning services, now draws an average of 20 people to the old wooden pews.
On Nov. 17, only 17 members gathered in the sanctuary for Sunday worship. After the service, they cast ballots on whether to close the cash-strapped church, which in recent years disbanded its choir, closed its preschool and spent its endowment funds.
The vote was 16-1 to close.
“We sat there and held hands,” said Donna Lorenz, a member since 1980. “Some were crying.”
Member Lea Ann Russell said that other than the sniffling, there was dead silence after the vote was announced.
“I was so worked up,” she said. “But we knew it was coming to this. When you can’t pay the bills, it’s just not right to try to keep it open.”
Church’s closing another blow to Slavic Village
Broadway United, which sits near a huge empty lot that was once St. Alexis Hospital, torn down a few years ago, will hold its last Sunday service on Dec. 26.
The closing is yet another blow to the Slavic Village neighborhood, devastated by the foreclosure crisis and plagued with boarded-up houses.
“We’re at a place in time where change needs to happen,” said the Rev. Yvonne Conner, the church’s pastor. “This is part of a society reshaping itself. It’s part of the cycle. It happens whether we like it or not.”
Broadway United is 3rd Methodist church in area to close this year
Broadway United is the third United Methodist church in central Greater Cleveland to close this year as city neighborhoods and inner-ring suburbs continue to lose populations to outer-ring suburbs and exurbia.
“It’s an indication of what’s facing older, industrial communities,” said Cleveland City Councilman Tony Brancatelli, noting that Slavic Village also lost three Catholic churches in the recent downsizing by the Cleveland Catholic Diocese.
The two other United Methodist churches that closed this year are Masters in Euclid and Brooklyn Memorial on Cleveland’s near West Side.
That leaves the Greater Cleveland area with 62 United Methodist churches, said the Rev. Orlando Chaffee, superintendent of the denomination’s North Coast District, which stretches from Chagrin Falls to Elyria and from Lake Erie to Brunswick.
Church has rare copy of da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’
Broadway United, built by Bohemians in 1918 and known as “Old Broadway,” is an imposing Gothic stone structure, featuring priceless stained-glass windows and an actual-size copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” above the altar.
The 15-by-30-foot painting, unveiled in 1924, was commissioned by the Stafford family, wealthy members of the church.
In 1957, according to church history, restoration artists working on the original 15th century painting in Milan, Italy, came to Old Broadway to study colors and details of the rare copy.
Pastor Conner said that after the church closes, the sanctuary and art will be maintained and preserved for special events such as weddings, funerals and musical concerts.
The church building also includes offices of the United Methodists’ North Coast District, which will remain, as will some of the church’s outreach programs.
“The good news is that they’re not abandoning the neighborhood,” said Brancatelli.
Broadway United Methodist was center of neighborhood
Howard Benes, 83, of Independence, grew up in the neighborhood and drives from his suburban home to Old Broadway every Sunday for the 10:30 a.m. service.
He remembers when the church was full. He remembers the basketball team, the harmonica club, the drama club and the pork, sauerkraut and dumpling church dinners.
“When I was a kid, I was there seven days a week,” he said.
Benes, a retired Cleveland firefighter, said his happy memories of Old Broadway are helping him deal with the sadness of the closing.
“I hate to think of the Christmas service,” he said. “It’ll be the last one, but there’s not much I can do about it. With everything, there is a beginning and, unfortunately, there has to be an end.”
Much like in the PNCC, this closing was done after worship and prayer, and by the vote of the membership. The membership and pastor also took responsibility for how this change was to come about, not as an abandonment of buildings and neighborhoods, but by maintaining a presence — the sanctuary will be maintained and used for special events and outreach programs will continue. Any closing and transition is sad and difficult, but done with the voice and vote of members, and with good planning and commitment to Christian witness, the Church itself lives on.
