For 100 years, Lutherans in this farming community on the Minnesota prairie have come to one church to share life\u2019s milestones.<\/p>\n
They have been baptized, confirmed and married at La Salle Lutheran. Their grandparents, parents and siblings lie in the church cemetery next door.<\/p>\n
But the old friends who gathered here early one recent Sunday never imagined that they would one day be marking the death of their own church.<\/p>\n
When La Salle Lutheran locks its doors in August, it will become the latest casualty among fragile Minnesota churches either closing, merging or praying for a miracle. Steep drops in church attendance, aging congregations, and cultural shifts away from organized religion have left most of Minnesota\u2019s mainline Christian denominations facing unprecedented declines.<\/p>\n
\u201cSunday used to be set aside for church: that\u2019s what families did,\u201d said Donna Schultz, 74, a church member since grade school at La Salle, in southwest Minnesota. \u201cNow our children have moved away. The grandkids have volleyball, dance on weekends. People are busy with other things….”<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n I've been a living witness. "As churches close in Minnesota, a way of life fades" https:\/\/t.co\/yhM4ke0Txk<\/a><\/p>\n — Lynne Silva-Breen (@LynneLMFT) July 8, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n