CASSOPOLIS — Cassopolis United Methodist Church has had the same core purpose throughout 180 years of change in name, location and membership: Loving and serving others.

Church member Dawn Atkinson said this core goal is a prime reason for the church’s longevity.

“I don’t think we could survive 180 years if we hadn’t been, all this time, loving people, communicating God’s love to them, offering them some kind of hope,” said Atkinson, a 35-year member.

The church has a variety of ministries. It works to help the community address hunger through its work with Helping Hands and through Pack a Sack, an organization that helped provide elementary school students with food bags to take home on the weekends.

Members also put together kits for disaster sites and sew pillowcases for children and members in the hospital or similar facilities. The church was one of the first to form a Council on Aging.

Overall, CUMC has always been involved in the community, Atkinson said.

Rev. Wade Panse agreed, saying though it is “probably the most diverse and inclusive congregation I’ve ever pastored,” difference in race, gender, age and political views do not stop members from having a shared commitment to ministry and service.

“It’s a church that’s really community service minded, and that community is larger than just Cassopolis,” Panse said. “Wherever there’s a need, there’s an interest to help. They are continually in that serving mode, not a surviving mode.”

Panse, who has led the church since 2015, said that outside vision has increased the internal strength of the church.

The church is not limited in its service by numbers that have dipped as family sizes have decreased and youth activity has declined. This is not a problem unique to this church, Panse said — 94 percent of United Methodist Churches in America have less than 100 members.

“We have learned how to adapt and to serve in smaller numbers,” he said.

Atkinson said she expects changes to come, whether in the local church or the denomination as a whole, just as they have during her time with CUMC and as they did before she joined, but she is certain the spirit of the church will not change.

“The next morning, we’re still here. We’re still loving people and preaching the gospel,” Atkinson said. “This church is open to all people at all times, and they will definitely get a warm welcome.”

That open invitation extends to the church’s 180th anniversary celebration at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 30. There is no dress code for the event, Atkinson said. The church is informal, and people are welcome, even in shorts.

She welcomed former members and people who have been baptized, married or confirmed to “come back and see us” and “enjoy what was, at one time, their church.”