Another sign of the times.

The congregation of the historic 150 year old George Street United Church in St. John’s has decided to disband in light of growing financial difficulties.

Regular Sunday worship services wrapped up in June, and plans are underway for a final service to mark the official closure of the church in October.

The Jimmy Pratt Memorial Outreach Centre has been providing a regular Monday morning breakfast program, sponsored by Cenovus, as well as a seniors program on Wednesdays, and Friday hot lunch services for the last few years out of the church basement.

Chair of the Jimmy Pratt Memorial Outreach Centre Board, Krista Koerner, says those programs will continue from the current location until they learn what the First Dawn Eastern Edge Regional Council of the United Church plans to do next.

Regardless of what may happen in the coming months, Koerner says they will maintain their programs in the downtown area. “It will continue to operate, no matter what,” says Koerner.

George Street Methodist Church was constructed in 1873 from stone taken from the Southside Hills, and was designed by Elijah Hoole of London, England. It was the second Methodist congregation in St. John’s, after Gower Street.

It survived the Great Fire of 1892 and was designated as a Registered Heritage Structure in 2000.