La Grande United Methodist Church says goodbye to 113-year home

Union County lost a landmark Sunday when La Grande United Methodist Church said farewell to the Fourth Street building that had anchored worship, weddings, funerals and fellowship for 113 years. The congregation did not leave its mission behind, though. Members had already moved several blocks up Fourth Street to share worship and office space with Zion Lutheran Church.

The split from the historic building began with a vote in December 2025, when members chose to let go of the property so the church could focus more of its resources on Loads of Laundry, The Blessing Box and K-House college meals. Church leaders also pointed to accessibility, saying the longtime worship space was not wheelchair accessible, while the reception space at Zion Lutheran Church was ADA accessible.

Pastor Roberta Smythe led a Farewell Worship at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 7, followed by a symbolic procession up the hill to Zion Lutheran Church. A reception there ran from 3:30 to 5 p.m., and both events were open to the public. The building’s pipe organ was featured in the service, underscoring how much of the congregation’s life had been tied to the sanctuary now being left behind.

The change also sits inside the United Methodist Church’s property rules. Under the Book of Discipline, if an annual conference closes a local church, title to the property vests in the conference board of trustees, which may retain, sell, lease or otherwise dispose of it. That means the building’s next chapter will be shaped through church process as much as by local sentiment.

Church notices had listed La Grande United Methodist Church at 1612 Fourth St. in 2023 and 2024, a reminder of how long the congregation’s identity was bound to that address. Even as the building closes a 113-year chapter, the congregation says its ministry in La Grande will continue through shared space, neighborhood service and the outreach programs it has chosen to prioritize.