MARQUETTE – Religion is more than brick and mortar.

Good thing it is. Otherwise, Bill Payne, Marjorie Carlson and Edith Prosen might be a little sadder that their church, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, is closing after 117 years.

The final service at the church, located at the corner of Presque Isle and Fair avenues, took place Sunday morning.

Of course, the three, all of whom live in Marquette, weren’t around when the church began. However, they have deep connections, with Payne serving as pastor and Carlson as church council president. Prosen is a past council president.

Payne, Carlson and Prosen sat down at the church last week to reminisce about the closing of their beloved church, which didn’t happen because of their lack of involvement. As with many endeavors, it got to the point where there just weren’t enough people who were actively committed.

In fact, the church had an estimated 28 members, down from 400 at one time, and those 28 included people in nursing homes.

There also were financial difficulties.

“Some time back, things were financially pretty tough,” Payne said.

St. Mark’s, he said, was “yoked” with Messiah Lutheran Church, located just several blocks away at 305 W. Magnetic St., and this arrangement involved the sharing of ministry duties. About four years ago, the two churches were “unyoked,” which resulted in the loss of some members.

Payne wasn’t pastor at St. Mark’s at that time.

“When I came, we had a small number of pretty old people, not older than me yet,” Payne laughed. “And part of the problem was that just the plain mettle and physical inability.”

He mentioned one parishioner, an educated man and a “great guy” who “doesn’t hear a thing” at meetings and is basically unable to participate.

“We have other, kind of, problems with age, but I think a lot of it was the loss of energy,” Payne said.

Prosen and Carlson agreed.

“We just existed,” Prosen said.

With so few members, the work was being performed by only a few.

“Many of us are members of lots of committees, so your energy runs kind of low when a few people are doing all the work, and there’s so much more work to be done, and we just didn’t get any new people,” Carlson said. “We do have some, but not enough to keep us going, and it got to the point where we just couldn’t deal with it anymore.”

That could be discouraging.

Prosen said: “And I think people would come on Sunday and see the small crowd and wonder, ‘What’s going on here? I don’t know if I want to stay here.'”

The small, friendly atmosphere, though, attracted some folks.

“I think the thing was small and big,” Prosen said. “People liked this church because it was small, and they liked Messiah because it was big.”

Carlson also said that following the merging of St. Mark’s and Messiah, kids went back and forth between Sunday schools, and most decided they liked Messiah’s school better. Thus, St. Mark’s lost younger members.

The church’s roots go back to the 19th century.

A small group of Finnish worshippers gathered in 1899 to form a congregation, meeting in various homes and borrowed places until 1940 when, with a mission grant, the present lot at Presque Isle and Fair avenues was purchased.

A small wooden building was put on the lot and dedicated in 1942. The present structure, dedicated in 1957, served as a place of worship and a focus of Finnish heritage as well as a center for campus ministry.

The building has been sold for $245,000 to Lakeshore Photography, which will take possession on Aug. 1. The congregation will officially go out of existence on July 31.

Internal items, like pews, will be sold. However, proceeds from the building sale will be donated to various recipients, which include Fortune Lake Bible Camp in Crystal Falls, Room at the Inn in Marquette, missions and seminarians.

What isn’t given away will go into an endowment fund to be created for the Northern Great Lakes Synod to handle. Every year, 6 percent of that remaining money will be distributed to designated recipients until the money is exhausted, Payne said.

But how will the “humanity” be dispersed? Some church members will attend Messiah Lutheran, while others will go to Redeemer Lutheran Church in Marquette or another area church. Others haven’t decided.

Payne doesn’t plan to retire, saying he will be “temporary supply” in any number of places.

“This really was a good experience,” Payne said of his tenure at St. Mark’s. “There were a lot of good things that happened, but in the end, we didn’t have the life energy that we needed, and a change for any person or group is difficult.”

Although the closure had been looming for years, the unfortunate, final decision finally came.

“It’s a sad occasion,” Prosen said. “No question about it.”

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250.