No longer considered viable, the Warnerville, Hyndsville, Dorloo, and Mineral Springs Methodist Churches will all be closing their doors-possibly as soon as September.
The decision to "discontinue" the four churches was made by the Oneonta District Office of the Upper New York United Methodist Church Conference.
Thursday, about 25 hurt and angry members of the Warnerville congregation met with District Superintendent Jan McClary Rowell, vowing to fight for their church.
"We have six generations and better here, and now they're going to lose their church?" asked Lonnie Odell.
"We pay our bills. We're not costing the Conference anything," said Fran Sossei. "I'm not going to go to Cobleskill or Richmondville. This will be a profound loss to me and my family."
"And to the entire community," added Nancy Spenello.
According to Rev. Rowell, the decision to discontinue the four churches was based on a review that looked at each church's strengths and weaknesses using information provided in part by the congregations themselves.
It was also based on factors including the number of baptisms and how many people have "come to faith"--prompting Violet Odell to ask, "Is there supposed to be a quota?"
Ms. Odell and others in Warnerville congregation said they were blindsided by the self-evaluation process and didn't realize that keeping their church depended on their answers.
Attendance is steady if small, they said, they contribute to efforts outside their church, and their fundraising dinners are well-attended.
But Rev. Rowell said afterwards that a viable church needs to do more than that and the four churches have lost their focus-which is not to be just another service organization.
"A lot of groups do good work," she said. "But as Methodists, we have an obligation to help people grow in their relationship with Christ. We need to pour our energy into that," not fundraising.
"That means letting go of some of the things that worked in the past and focusing our resources on creating new opportunities for ministry."
"By closing the church, this is going to improve?" asked Don Phelan; others said their church is being sacrificed to strengthen congregations in Cobleskill and Richmondville-which they won't join.
"If you close this church, I will resign from the Methodist faith. I will resign that day from any Methodist Church," said an angry Bill Havlicek, walking out.
No matter how small the congregation is, said Steve Garreau, "if we're paying everything on our own, there's money in the bank, in our investment funds, we're putting on productive dinners and we're self-supporting, why can't it be the way it is?"
They can't, said Rev. Rowell, because under the terms of the church's charter, the Conference owns the building, which could be "repurposed."
It also owns church's assets.
The land under the church, though, is a stickier point and one that the Conference will be looking into:
According to a 1915 deed transferring the property from Daniel and Adda Spencer to the then-Methodist Episcopal Church of Warnerville, when it's no longer used for church purposes, the 1.2 acres are to revert to the Spencers' descendants.
There are 15 UMC churches in Schoharie County; meetings with equally upset members of the Hynsdville, Dorloo, and Mineral Springs congregations followed Warnerville's.
"Churches have life cycles," Rev. Rowell said. "This is very painful and none of it was done lightly."
The four churches will close on or before May 1, 2016.