More than 100 people gathered yesterday to mark the end of a church which had served Broad Bay for more than 100 years.
While the present Broad Bay Methodist Church was built in 1966, the history of Methodist worship in the community stretches back to the 1850s.
The church, which now has only six members, was farewelled by Methodists from throughout Dunedin and further afield.
The Rev Siosifa Pole said saying goodbye to the building was difficult.
''I'm the same with everybody else who was there this morning. It was a sad occasion for the community, not only in Broad Bay but the whole Methodist Church in Dunedin,'' he said.
The church closed because the declining membership had made the day-to-day running and maintenance too difficult, he said.
''The attendance over the last three years would be about 10 people [every Sunday],'' he said.
The closure was ''inevitable''.
''I wish there was the same number of people attending on the normal Sunday services [as there was yesterday]. It would have saved the church from closing,'' Mr Pole said.
He honoured the courage of the church's members to decide to close the building.
''It was not a light decision, it was a hard decision.
''But I have to give credit to the current members of Broad Bay for being honest and having the courage to make this decision. It was them and not the decision of the wider church.''
While the church's members were sad, they were ''moving forward into the future with hope''.
Many of them would attend the Glenaven Methodist Church in future, he said.
''The church can be closed but the people can move on. They will carry the mission with them wherever they will be.
''The church is about people and they will carry with them the values that the Broad Bay church has had for many years.''
Controversy surrounded the church in 1991, when openly gay minister Dr David Bromell was appointed to serve the congregation.
