Save Caton Church: Help Us Stay in Caton

Help Caton Church Stay in Caton

This fundraiser is for Caton Church in Caton, NY 14830. You may know them as the white church on the hill, or in a past life as the United Methodist Church, or even today as the church that a community built with local labor and local dollars starting in 1832 from meeting in local homes to building several local churches, to finally building the white church on the hill. It was never a building that the Mountain View Conference of The United Methodist Church sponsored with any of their own dollars so it was especially heart breaking when the Moutainview Conference took possession of the church and the parsonage, then placed the property on the real estate market for more than $300,000. The history behind how that could happen dates back to John Wesley in the 1750s who proposed a Trust Clause for small Methodist Churches to be protected under the larger umbrella of the Methodist community of faith. That Methodist Church eventually became the United Methodist Church in the late 1960s and they kept the Trust Clause.

The Caton Church struggled for a while just before, during, and after Covid19 and they struggled with some poor administrative financial mandates that were handed down by their Conference as well. It was a difficult time of second guessing what the future would hold and what direction the church should take, especially when people could not meet together in person and Zoom was just starting. The Caton Church floundered for a while and guidance from the Conference was fraught with financial obligations at a time when the congregation was not meeting, talking, or donating each week.

The Caton Church got brave though and muddled through Covid 19. The church came back together, though a little leaner. Attrition is high when your congregation is old and some of that attrition dropped the numbers of members and participants too. They got a new pastor who was learned and adamant about the love of Jesus, and gave sermons that pulled people together. Drive by chicken dinners, 3 tacos for $9, and meatloaf suppers did not bring in enough funds to prop up the church that missing members had supported before Covid.

The Caton Church dipped into savings to keep going but by summer of 2024 they announced their desire to withdraw their membership from the United Methodist Church, in large part because they were unable to pay apportionments to the United Methodist Church. There were probably a variety of options available to both sides but the United Methodist Church chose to take possession of the Caton Church, their bank accounts, and the parsonage and put the real estate on the market, deposit the money, and leave Caton.

These are a hearty people. The Caton United Methodist Church became Caton Church and meets with the grace of the Caton Fire Hall each Sunday. These are people who want the community church to survive; who want to continue to contribute the space in their (eventual) facility to Pathways and AA; who want to continue to have several Red Cross Blood drives each year; who want to continue to contribute to Bampas House and Pantry of Angels, and Shepard's Table at the Salvation Army. These are people who act on John Wesley's famous quote "Do all the good you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as you ever can." And so this GoFundMe is for exactly that purpose. Should they meet their $150,000 goal they will look for a facility in Caton (existing or the property to build on) to continue their mission of love to all, as Jesus directed. If the goal is not met and Caton Church does not survive, Caton Church will donate the GoFundMe monies to local not for profit charities. In the meantime, they are looking for ways to increase their membership, provide kids and parents an engaging version of the peace, love, hope, and charity of Christianity. They would enjoy your company, come to church on Sundays. If you can contribute, thank you and God bless you. If you cannot contribute, God bless you still.