Beloved chapter ends as Avondale church closes

There is one fewer church serving the Adair County countryside this month. Avondale United Methodist Church, located six miles south and two miles west of Fontanelle, closed Sunday, Feb. 16. A steady decrease in attendance at Sunday services led to the eventual closure.

Avondale has been in a sharing agreement with Methodist congregations in Massena and Bridgewater for decades. Services were held for the three churches in the last several months at rotating sites. Pastor Karen Patrick will continue to serve the other two churches in that way, with Massena and Bridgewater rotating hosting the worship service.

Bob Menefee, Jr. wrote in a piece, featured in a 2024 edition of the “Our Iowa” magazine, that the Stewards, Pritchards, Mosses, Edwardses, Woodsides, Baymans, Stuvas, McCalls and Menefees make up a short list of families who have been key in the church’s longevity.

Gail and Sharon Steward live a short distance down the road from the church.

“What I think about with the church is my parents, my grandparents, they all went to church and were baptized in that church,” Gail said. “I feel like I’m letting them down [to see it close].

“It was a place for social gatherings. Back in time, we didn’t go to town as much. There was always something going on at the church,” he continued. “It was a real family church.”

Depending on what was needed, Becky Stuva played piano or organ at the church. She was one of many who did that for worship services, funerals and weddings. More in that list were sisters Dorothy McCall and Lola Blazek, Marilyn McCall, Delvian Stuva, Graydon Asay and Lisa Moss Edwards.

Vacation Bible Schools come to mind in Stuva’s memory. They were popular in the summertime while Christmas Eve was a hit during the holidays. Anyone wishing to take part in the Christmas Eve program could by sharing music, a little play, skit or reading. At the end of the program, Santa Claus would visit, giving apples and bags of candy to all in attendance. A more formal Christmas service was held separately each year.

Stuva authored the Avondale News column in the local newspapers for decades. It almost always included folks who attended the church.

“This kept me in touch with many people and gave me a good excuse to call them to see what they’d been up to and if they had done anything newsworthy during the week,” Stuva said. “I also had a shoe box at the church where people could leave their news items. This was a way for Avondale people who moved away to stay in touch with what was going on in their home community.”

Two groups that were regularly in that column were the Sunshine Club and the United Methodist Women (U.M.W.).

Beverly Moss and her husband, Larry, will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary this year. They joined the church right after they were married, and one of the groups she enjoyed the most was the Sunshine Club.

The Sunshine Club has disbanded now that the church has closed because one of its main functions was supporting the church through holding the Avondale Supper and Bazaar, which occured each fall.

The Sunshine Club was always working on a quilt. Those quilts were auctioned off as a fundraiser for the church. One brought as much as $900. At Christmastime, the Sunshine Club would make gift baskets to take to shut-ins around the neighborhood. School boxes were packed for school children overseas.

“We’re going to miss that little church,” Moss said.

Menefee’s parents, Bob Sr. and Ruth, were members of the church until their passing. His son, Matt, married his fiance Leah at the church last summer. They were the final couple to tie the knot in the church, and they now reside in Greenfield, Wisconsin.

“Matt’s grandparents moved to the Avondale Community in 1952. All of Bob Sr. and Ruth Menefee’s children were baptized at the Avondale Church, plus my siblings were married there,” Bob Menefee Jr. said. ”After retiring from the farm three-fourths of a mile from the church, Bob and Ruth moved to Fontanelle. For me, Avondale remains a part of my DNA.”

Many people who attended Avondale plan to attend worship at Bridgewater from now on.

With Massena, the now-two-church parish will continue under the shepherding of Pastor Karen Patrick of Bayard, who has traveled here each week since she started in 2018.

The last service included sharing of memories and several beloved hymns of the congregation. Patrick likened it to a funeral as there were a lot of emotions because of the memories shared and some goodbyes that were said. Past pastors John Greenlee and Mark Millikan were in attendance and each got up to say a few words.

“I got up and talked about my time there — how I felt when I came, how I felt that day — and how loving and supportive the church is,” Patrick said. “I was sick a lot last year and and they were very supportive of me. That’s just the way that church is.”