The church has been forced to close because the congregation has halved in the past five years to less than 10 people.

Raywood Uniting Church chairwoman Ruth Orde said a final service would be held tomorrow.

She has been involved with the congregation for the past 40 years and recently bought Tattslotto tickets in the hope she could win enough money to save the church.

Her prayers have not been answered.

“It’s a small congregation and we’re all quite elderly,” Mrs Orde said.

“So many churches are closing.

“My mother would be turning in her grave if she knew I was buying Tatts tickets to buy a church.”

Mrs Orde said the closure of the church signified the gradual decline of the entire town.

“Back when the church started there were goldmines here and the population of Raywood was about 2000,” she said.

“Now it’s only about 250.

“As the families go off to Bendigo from Raywood to work, they start living a different life and they’re not connected to a little country town any more.”

A $16,000 renovation of the church was completed only three years ago.

The final service will be held by the Reverend Bronwyn Jones, one of 57 former ministers at the church.

“We’ve had some wonderful ministers over the years,” Mrs Orde said.

“They’ve kept us going.”

The fate of the church was undecided, she said, but it was expected that it would be sold privately.

“I hope the person who buys it will be a caring person, because I don’t want to find out the church has been sold and it’s been burnt down or anything.”

The final service will start at 2.30pm and will be followed by an afternoon tea.

“We’ve loved every bit of our time here and it’s sad to see it go,” Mrs Orde said.