Church’s final service to lead to resurrection
Staff writer
Members of Trinity Mennonite Church in Hillsboro will have their final worship service Sunday. But, although it may be the end for the church, its facilities will be resurrected as a community day-care center.
Members are sad to see the church close but happy to know it will continue to serve a much-needed purpose in the community.
“We will celebrate what happened here in the past and then transition to celebrating the building’s future,” pastor Norma Duerksen said.
Her sermon will center on the message of Jesus to the women standing outside the empty tomb: “Do not be afraid. The Lord goes ahead of you.”
The event will be bittersweet.
“When it’s the last time to play the piano or the last time to give a message, it hits you in the gut,” Duerksen said.
The congregation will have its usual sunrise service at 6:50 a.m. Sunday in the front yard of the Gerald and Sharon Funk home across from Hillsboro’s airport.
A 9:30 a.m. brunch of biscuits and gravy will be served at the church, followed by the 10:30 a.m. worship service.
Church pews will be removed Monday, and the sanctuary will be dismantled.
At 10:30 a.m. April 14, the church and a day-care committee will sign a deed that will finalize the transfer.