In June, Munger Place United Methodist Church, as we know it, will cease to exist. The doors will close for renovations until approximately March 2010, when it will re-emerge as an extension of Highland Park United Methodist Church. When weekly worship services resume, they will revolve around a satellite broadcast of Highland Park Pastor Paul Rasmussen’s sermon.

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The news that Highland Park UMC will fund renovations and take over the church follows years of financial struggles at Munger Place UMC.

“Munger Place can no longer sustain itself and make viable ministry happen … [this] plan will create a long-sustained ministry at Munger Place that will look different than it does now,” says Rev. Pat Beghtel-Mahle, the Dallas Northeast Superintendent for the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, speaking at a recent meeting with Munger Place church members and staff.

The announcement was bittersweet, says longtime church member Judith Howard, who is grateful that the building will be saved and reopened as a United Methodist church.

“We [will] go through a period of mourning the loss of something dear to us, and of celebrating our great heritage and many accomplishments … we need to be grateful to Highland Park UMC for their willingness to accept this difficult challenge … and to the North Texas Conference for finding a way to continue a vital ministry.”

Other Munger Place members feel the Highland Park proposal to take over the church is unnecessarily aggressive.

“The members of [Munger Place] give so much of themselves. They are volunteers, activists, teachers … not rich, but endlessly giving. We have worked so hard in the years I’ve been here — three years — with capital campaigns, fundraising … this feels kind of like a slap in the face,” says Meredith Moore, Munger Place member and church historian.

Moore wonders why the two congregations can’t share the historic church, rather than breaking up the Munger Place community.

The physical renovation of Munger Place will preserve the architectural feel, while transforming the sanctuary into a dynamic extension of Highland Park UMC. Highland Park staffers will manage the ministry, live music and creative team needed to produce the video services, according to the North Texas Conference proposal. The current Munger Place staff will be reassigned.

Beghtel-Mahle recommends that Munger Place members find a home at another nearby United Methodist Church, such as Grace United Methodist Church (Junius at Haskell), for the 18 months to 2 years it will take to re-establish the Munger Place campus.

The Wilkinson Center, a nonprofit organization adjacent to Munger Place that serves our neighborhood’s indigent population, will remain open, and Highland Park UMC “looks forward to working with and greatly expanding [its] capabilities,” according to the proposal.