The pastor tried to hide his pain as he groped for the right words.

For Arleigh Champ-Gibson, the inevitable closure of one of Auburn’s most storied churches is difficult to describe, let alone comprehend, in these trying and uncertain times.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve been through in ministry … to put your heart and soul into this,” said Champ-Gibson, the pastor of the White River Presbyterian Church, the oldest congregation in the Seattle Presbytery.

“A church dying is a painful thing, and that grief is very real,” he said. “It’s going to be a loss to the community, to a lot of people. … It’s painful to see people struggle with it.”

Faced with dwindling numbers and failing financial health, the church is preparing for a November closure. The WRPC Session, a board comprised of Champ-Gibson and seven elders, grappled with the difficult decision, a conclusion that came after considerable study, debate and introspection. The Session observed a thorough, multiple-step, four-week discussion and discernment process before suggesting closure. They also spent another six weeks weighing that conclusion while listening to the congregation’s feelings and concerns. The Session then voted Sept. 14, recommending to the Presbytery of Seattle to dissolve the congregation.

The official timeline calls for the church to hold its last Sunday morning worship service on Nov. 15 and to celebrate the church’s life on Nov. 22 in the afternoon, the board announced last week.

For several years, the church operated despite deficit spending. And while the strength of its volunteers and the resolve of its loyal followers remained, many factors nevertheless pointed to a church in trouble.

“There’s nothing more I, or the church, can do, to hold back the inevitable,” said Champ-Gibson, who has served as the church’s pastor for five years. “It’s heart wrenching. Unless God can provide a path for long term health… this will happen.”

Barring a last-minute reprieve, the church that has been a part of the Auburn faith community for 142 years will close.

Seattle Presbytery will assume ownership and oversight of the facility when the congregation closes. The church intends to honor and maintain as many of its partnerships in the building as possible. ACAP Child and Family Services and ChangePoint will continue to have access to the building for their use.

Iglesia El Buen Pastor, a Latino partner congregation, plans to remain active.

In addition, some of WRPC’s current ministries might continue after the congregation is closed.

Church leaders are optimistic that their SpiritFest Community Dinner will be able to continue after the congregation closes. Until the church closes, the weekly ministries of Sunday School, worship, choir rehearsal and committee meetings will continue.

“There is a possibility, a remote possibility that there could be another outcome besides closure, but we can’t predict these things,” said Scott Lumsden, Seattle Presbytery executive. “All evidence, all signs seem to point that, regrettably, the church will close.”

Lumsden said such a closure is a reflection of the times. Many mainstream churches are struggling with declining support as congregations deal with a changing society and ideals.

“And we just can’t point to money as the sole factor in all of this,” Lumsden said. “Being a church in the 21st century is not what it used to be. These are realties we are facing in the life of a church. It’s not the 1940s, ’50s or ’60s when people would get together, buy some land and start a church. Our communities are changing, our culture is changing, and our church is changing. And the church is having to deal with those realities.”

For WRPC, the loss is significant. Church leaders are moving ahead, helping the congregation of about 125 to find other churches.

“The transition process has been emotional and trying,” Champ-Gibson admitted. Many of the church’s followers have accepted the closure, some are fighting it.

“It’s been really hard,” Champ-Gibson said. “We love the congregation.”

Champ-Gibson is hopeful that members of the congregation will remain together, forever friends in the face of change. As for himself, the pastor admits he has an uncertain future but would like to remain a part of the community. He and his family enjoy being a part of Auburn.

The church will leave its legacy.

The WRPC was the first church organized in the current Presbytery. It was organized with six members on July 7, 1867 by Rev. George W. Sloan in the log schoolhouse at Langston Landing, on the Green River, near present-day Kent.

In 1889, the congregation of WRPC moved to the town of Slaughter and by 1890 it was meeting in its own church building on the corner of 1st and Division, near the current location of Auburn Regional Medical Center.

Slaughter was renamed Auburn in 1893, and the church grew along with the town.

In 1924, a new church building was completed, one block away, at the corner of 2nd and Division.

The church continued to grow, and eventually property was purchased on Southeast 12th Street where the present building was completed in 1960. Though the congregation is closing and the building remains, White River Presbyterian will certainly leave a deep imprint in the soil of the community.