A landmark church exemplifies the adage “use it or lose it.”
The abandoned Trinity Methodist Church is coming up for sale.
“It’s just not sustainable,” said the Rev. Dyton Owen, pastor of Iola’s United Methodist churches. “It’s not getting the use it needs.”
Once that fact was roundly accepted by congregants, the decision to list Trinity Methodist Church, 228 S. Kentucky, was made.
Built in 1904, the church boasts unparalleled acoustics and magnificent stained-glass windows. Its pews, altar and railings are also in pristine condition.
“It would be great as another church,” Owen said, though added guidelines required by the United Methodist Great Plains Conference may include some stipulations to that end.
The church is technically owned by the Conference but was deeded to the local Methodist church.
“Typically, when a church closes the Conference gets the building,” he said. “This is an unusual situation. They don’t want to maintain this building or be in the real estate business. Church properties are notoriously hard to sell.”
Once it is off the church’s books, that leaves Wesley Methodist and Calvary Methodist as the Conference’s holdings in Iola. The three churches joined congregations in 2015.
For a short time, a youth and young adult group called The Foundry used Trinity’s annex as a meeting place.
“But it didn’t have any legs for a longer vision,” Owen said.
Other private groups use the annex, he said, but not on a sustainable basis.
“The annex is probably the church’s strongest selling point,” he said, noting its kitchen.
The church takes up half a block along South Kentucky, catty-cornered to the former McKinley Elementary School.
Owen considers it a prime location, especially once the school is converted into housing units as planned by the local school district.
