(AP) — After 140 years, St. Paul United Church of Christ — one of Lincoln’s first — is closing its doors. Membership at the once-vibrant church in Lincoln has dwindled from nearly 700 people in the 1960s to a mere 18.

The Lincoln Journal Star (http://bit.ly/18ZrOGO) says the church, which opened in 1873, was once big enough to employ two ministers. Now, the church has a “very part-time minister” in the Rev. Gwen Hurst, she said. Hurst was hired in May to help the congregation settle its affairs and sell the building to Northern Lighthouse, a Christian Reformed Church.

The church’s original building, a small white wooden structure, still stands just behind its newer brick counterpart — built in 1877.

The church will hold its last service on Easter Sunday next April.