A 143-year-old heritage-listed church that appeared in hit Australian film The Dish will soon be up for sale.
St Andrew's Presbyterian Church members have announced the building, located in the central western New South Wales town of Forbes, will officially close by the end of the year due to dwindling attendance and unviable financial costs.
The reverend Craig Bland said it may be several months before the building is listed on the real estate market.
He said the church had an elderly congregation of just four members.
"We're just not seeing young people in the church," Reverend Bland said.
"Despite advertising and despite all sorts of moves to try and get people back to church, those congregations have just continued to dwindle and struggle."
Reverend Bland said the closure would be disappointing for many in the community who were married or attended baptisms at the church.
"It's probably sadder at a much greater level that there are so many people who just have no interest in the things of God," he said.
Another parish church in nearby Peak Hill ended regular services in mid-2019.
Jan Mullette is one of the remaining congregation members at Forbes and said the decision to close had been expected for several years.
She said it had been a struggle to maintain the heritage-listed site built in 1877.
"It's very sad, it's a bit disheartening," Ms Mullette said.
"We have tried various things within our capabilities but without people we just can't maintain the building."
Reverend Bland said the decline in attendance at both Forbes and Peak Hill churches contrasted with the growing congregation at nearby Parkes, which had about 100 members.
He said parishioners there had been participating in online church services during the pandemic.
"We have a very diverse congregation from babies right through to elderly people and we have a lot more ministries that we offer," he said.
