Dwindling membership forces closure of historic church
May 7, 2021

Charity Smith/Daily Globe
Jack Fashbaugh, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Ironwood, stands in the nave to the church Thursday morning. The congregation is folding due to a decline in membership and the building has been sold to the Faith Lighthouse.
By CHARITY SMITH
IRONWOOD - Dwindling membership has resulted in the closure of First Presbyterian Church in Ironwood. The church has been in operation on East Aurora for 115 years this month.
A once thriving church with more than 300 members, in the end, the congregation counted just seven members. Of the remaining seven, two are in nursing homes and two are seasonal - retreating to Florida in the winter, said Pastor Jack Fashbaugh.
"Membership steadily declined. It had to do with the closing of the mines," Fashbaugh said. "When my wife and I first joined the ch...
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