Wilkes Boulevard church to close; Turning Point will remain open
Matthew Sanders
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Central Columbia’s Wilkes Boulevard Methodist Church will close next year, but a day center for homeless people will continue to operate out of the building.
Church leadership wrote in a Facebook post over the weekend that the church itself will close next summer “after more than a century of ministry in Columbia.”
The church started the Turning Point day center, but the operation has since been organized into its own non-profit organization, the church wrote. That operation will continue until the day center moves to the city’s Opportunity Campus, which is expected to open next year.
Wilkes Boulevard pastor, the Rev. Andrew McCausland, said in a statement that the need for meaning, justice, and community remains despite fewer people in church.
“That spirit lives on through Turning Point, which will continue to embody our call to love God and neighbor in Columbia. And that spirit lives on through all the faithful congregants who will take Wilkes Boulevard’s heart of service and love to new places of worship,” McCausland said.