COLUMBIA, S.C. — A Rosewood landmark is on the market. Rosewood Church is looking for a buyer.
As the pastor told News 19, they may be moving out, but their church ministry isn't going anywhere.
"Rosewood [Church] has been here since 1937 and it will continue to be here. It just won't look like it looks right now," said Rosewood Church Pastor, Bob Morgan.
After 82 years in the same spot off Rosewood Drive, Rosewood Church is looking for a new home.
"Our church is growing, but what we've got is a facility that was built for 1,000 people, but we've only got around 90 to 100 people in it," said Morgan. "Given that, it's just fiscally irresponsible to live in a house you can't afford."
The building sitting on Rosewood Drive and Sloan Street was constructed in the 1970's, but as people across the country moved out of inner cities to the suburbs a few years later, Pastor Bob says that meant fewer people at Rosewood Church.
"When we got here, some people would say, 'You took over, you were working with a dying church.' I think we were almost past the point of dying," said Morgan. "This was a church on life support."
Pastor Bob says attendance locally picked up again within the last 20 months. They've been under a revitalization period the last four years.
Their turning point, he says, was the flood of 2015.
"If it takes a miracle to turn a church, God sent a flood," said Morgan. "We had an opportunity with our warehouse, with our gym, to turn it into a flood relief distribution. For weeks and weeks after the flood, we just loved on people with volunteers [and] food and resources coming from all over the country."
But with time, Pastor Bob says the maintenance bill on the church continued to grow. Members eventually voted to sell the property and move to a smaller place in the same neighborhood.
"Rather than trying to force a fit, we are going to customize our church," he said. "As the church would grow, the buildings would grow. But the expenses of those facilities would grow too. If a church ever starts to decline, where you can build as you grow, you can't demo as you decline."
Sherri Louie is one of many Rosewood residents curious to see what the future holds for the church.
She says they opened their doors to her when she needed them most.
"Last December, I lost the vision in my left eye. I have an eye disease. I had to go to this church for assistance...They gave me food and clothing," she said. "We need to rally together to try to help them."
Other neighbors told us their children have concerts and activities at Rosewood Church, so they're keeping a close eye on what happens next.
"It saddens me to hear that this church is going to be leaving or they're looking for another church, because they really help a lot of people," said Louie.
In 1937, a group of people in Rosewood borrowed a tent from another church to hold a service. It eventually became a landmark on Rosewood Drive.
Pastor Bob says the founders' efforts aren't over yet.
"What these people stood for in 1937, we're going to stand for that now. We may not have what they built, because what we build in life is fleeting, but the gospel of Jesus Christ isn't fleeting," he said. "Our church isn't going anywhere except probably right down the street."
Pastor Bob says all of the funds they get from the purchase will go toward the renovation of a new facility. They're still trying to find a new place.
Meanwhile, just blocks away, another church is on the market. Lutheran Church of the Resurrection off Prospect Street in the Rosewood neighborhood has a For Sale sign out front.
The message on their marquee reads, "As we say goodbye, we leave our love and blessings with our neighborhood...Resurrection served for 70 years."