Knox Presbyterian to merge with North Como Presbyterian this fall

One of the Midway’s oldest and once-active churches will be going through a merger this fall and shutting its doors. Knox Presbyterian Church, 1536 W. Minnehaha Ave., is going through the final steps of a merger with North Como Presbyterian Church.

The merger will be a change for members of both churches and for members of two other congregations Knox hosts. It also means that Knox’s distinctive Prairie-style church building will be put up for sale. The last service at Knox will be Nov. 17 and will include a restaging of a longtime church tradition, a roast beef dinner. Members and friends will share memories and enjoy looking at pictures and displays before leaving the building one last time.

Knox was founded in September of 1890. Its current building dates from 1914. While the building is cited in architectural histories of St. Paul and the neighborhood, it doesn’t have any designated historic status.

While members of the two congregations have enjoy getting to know one another over the past several months, and are working to make the transition a smooth one, the change is nonetheless a sad one for Knox’s members who are remembering longtime friends and past days. The congregation had about 900 members at its peak in post-World War II years; it now is down to about 70 people.

“Our congregation has become too small to support our building,” said Laurie Reis. She is one of the Knox members who has worked on the merger. The process of determining Knox’s future has taken about two years.

Knox members had initially hoped to find another church that wanted to merge with them, but the governing body of the Twin Cities Presbyterian churches didn’t see that as an option. Instead, Knox will sell its building after the merger. Reis and others hope it will be sold to another house of worship. “We hope someone cares as much about the building as we have.” Knox not only has distinctive architecture, it also has much of its original woodwork and ornate stained glass windows.

Lois Nyman, who grew up in the Midway and lived here for many years, joined the church as a child in 1930. She isn’t the longest-tenured member. There is another person who claims 1929 as a membership date.

While Nyman is sad to see Knox leave its longtime home, she said that the loss of longtime members was a factor in the merger. She has served on a Knox-North Como committee that has worked on the merger for several months. Part of that process has included attending each other’s church services and learning about each other.

“No two churches worship in exactly the same way so there has been a learning curve,” she said. Nyman’s history with the church goes back to the days of peak attendance, when there had to be two services to meet demand.

Nyman said what she will miss most about Knox is its longtime tradition of music. The church is too small to have its own choir. She led choirs for 42 years as the church’s director of music. At one time Knox had adult, preschool, children and youth choirs.

She also remembers when the church had active younger and older member “couples’ clubs” and of course, the famous roast beef dinners. “The men would prepare and serve the dinner, and the women would sell baked goods and items they had sewn and made,” Nyman said.

Reis joined the church in 1981, “which makes me a relative newcomer.” She notes that many of the current members live outside of the Midway area, with many in Roseville. She is one of the few who still lives in the neighborhood; Nyman is now in Roseville.

Nyman and Reis note that one of the biggest changes for Knox was when people became more mobile. Many of the longtime church members moved to the suburbs. When Knox began as a church, its members could walk or take a streetcar to church, but the lack of a church parking lot has been an obstacle over the years. The church opted not to buy land for parking in the 1970s.

Knox currently houses two other congregations in its building, a West African group and the Mosaic congregation. There are also community groups that rent meeting space there. Reis said the intent is for them to stay during the transition and to encourage any group that buys the building to allow them to stay.