In this Sunday, April 28, 2019, photo the Rev. Darlene Cuhn of St. James Episcopal Church, right, hugs the Rev. Charlotte Ellison during the final service for First Presbyterian Church of Albion, Mich. The church on East Porter Street closed its doors Sunday after 182 years of ministry. More than 90 people gathered for the church's final service, led by the Rev. Ellison. (Nick Buckley/Battle Creek Enquirer via AP)

BATTLE CREEK — The First Presbyterian Church of Albion has closed its doors after 182 years of ministry.

More than 90 people gathered for the church’s final service, led by the Rev. Charlotte Ellison. Among the attendees was 87-year-old parishioner Caroline Swyers, who lives across from the church.

“I’ve been here since I was a little girl,” she said to the Battle Creek Enquirer. “I sit there and I see my mother was in the choir, my dad was active in the church, I taught Sunday school when my kids were growing up, so there’s a lot. We’re no longer a congregation.”

The church was founded in 1837. An earlier version of the building was designed by architect Elijah E. Myers, who also designed the Michigan State Capitol. It burned in 1883, but the shell of the structure and two stained glass windows were saved an incorporated into the present building.

Its grand appearance couldn’t keep the people coming.

Membership, which hit its peak at about 600 in the 1960s and 1970s, had dropped to between 12 and 15. A recent Gallup poll showed Americans who report belonging to a church, synagogue or mosque at an all-time low, averaging 50% in 2018. And the declines in church membership has hit mainline Protestant denominations the hardest. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the denomination that First Presbyterian belonged to, has been losing members since the mid-1960s.

“It has dwindled, which is something that has happened to a lot of churches,” Ellison said. ” And the membership has aged.”

Six years ago, First Presbyterian Church of Albion had about more than 30 people worshiping regularly.

There were efforts to rebuild the congregation, including a program called “grand Sunday,” where grandparents were encouraged to bring their grandchildren to check out the church.

“This church has been very creative to attract new people and keep on going, but it just didn’t happen,” Ellison said.