Woodland Presbyterian gathers for the last time with ‘grief and gratitude.’

Palm Sunday has always been a day that holds two truths at once: a tension of opposites, of joy and sorrow, of celebration and letting go, of hope and uncertainty.

And that’s exactly where we find ourselves today.

We gather with palms in our hands and memories in our hearts, knowing that this congregation, this beloved church, has come to the end of its life as we have known it.

And yet, Palm Sunday reminds us: endings are never the whole story of God.

— Rev. Carrie Fraser, final sermon, Woodland Presbyterian Church, March 29, 2026

About 50 people gathered March 29 for the final service at an iconic 108-year-old church in East Nashville. Members of Woodland Presbyterian Church, a pioneer of inclusion and community service for more than a century, acknowledged mixed feelings as the church was unable to overcome declining attendance and rising building maintenance costs.

“I’ve been through the five stages of grief,” said Nicole Cochran, a 20-year-old congregant, “and right now I’m in the middle of despair and acceptance.”

The colossal 108-year-old landmark at 11th Street and Gartland Avenue has had to replace four of its eight enormous air conditioning units in the past six years, said volunteer facilities director Dean Frederick. This is the starkest example of the growing costs the congregation is struggling to pay.

If we lined the road today and asked everyone connected to Woodland to lay down a palm branch for what this church has meant in their lives, the road would be covered….

Palm branches to welcome, bless and send.

Palm branches for funerals where tears were shared and hope proclaimed.

Branches for choir anthems that made our hearts soar. Branches for Sundays Jazz and string quartets. Branches for the beautiful organ and all the music that filled this sanctuary. Branches for Sunday school lessons that sowed seeds of faith. Branches for potlucks, laughter in the hallways and silent prayers in the pews.

This church is holy ground. And nothing, neither the closing of the doors, nor the sale of the building, nor the passage of time, can erase what God has done here.

The solemn service included the church’s five elders – Greg Gardner, Frederick, Cole Heintzman, former Metropolitan Council member Brett Withers and restaurateur Mark Taylor – moving through the pews to give communion.

The service concluded with a procession of “sacred relics,” a chalice, an old Bible and a gold cross, out of the building as part of the desecration, transferring a building from sacred to secular use.

Congregations begin with hope, energy and vision. Over time, they grow, serve, love, struggle and change. And sometimes the faithful life of a church leads to a time when the form of ministry ends.

But God’s mission never ends. A church is not just a building or an institution. A Church is a people shaped by Christ and sent into the world. Which means something very important. Even though this congregation is closing the doors to Woodland, the ministry of this church does not stop today. Because you carry it with you.

These church relics will be transported to the congregation’s new church, the Downtown Presbyterian Church, on April 5 for Easter Sunday.

Proceeds from the sale of Woodland Presbyterian and its land, expected to bring in at least $5 million, will go to the downtown church to use as it wishes, Middle Tennessee Presbytery officials said.

As congregants looked to the future, they also reflected on Woodland Presbyterian’s legacy of service. Among other efforts, the church provided treatment during a cholera outbreak in Nashville in 1873, helped launch the Martha O’Bryan Center for people from disadvantaged communities in 1918, and became one of the first churches in Nashville to provide housing for the homeless during the winter months as part of Room in the Inn in the 1980s.

Today is the day of completion. The Presbyterian Church of Woodland has run its race faithfully. He proclaimed the Gospel. He took care of people. He loved this community. And like Palm Sunday itself, this moment brings both sorrow and gratitude.

We mourn what we lose. But we also give thanks for the decades, even generations, of ministry that have taken place here. Every sun anthem. Every offering given. Every hour of volunteering. Every act of kindness. It all mattered. All of this still matters.

Nothing that is lovingly offered to God is ever wasted.

Contact Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Historic Woodland Presbyterian in East Nashville Holds Final Service