"I was christened there, my brother was married there, one of my children has been christened there and I grew up going there with my grandparents," Melisa Bensley says of the St John's Church in Towrang.
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It's a simple blue-hued church residents have passed on the daily for almost a century.
Melisa said it's something that has always been part of her life, which added to the shock when she found a sale notice posted on the door.
"We only found out about it when they came to put the notice of sale on the door of the church," she said.
"It wasn't the best way of going about it because people can't see the sign unless you're actually attending something at the church."
That development led to a community gathering and petition, determined to keep the church, which also features 17 graves, as an active part of the St Nicolas' Anglican Church Goulburn.
"Community-minded people want to see it stay," she explained.
"Originally the land was given for the purpose of servicing the community and we don't want to see that taken away. There's a lot of long-standing families that have lived in the area for generations."
Rector Paul Davey said the sale of the 1929 church was largely brought on by dwindling attendances in Towrang, while Goulburn services had seen a considerable growth.
He said considerations were also made for rules around providing a home for a youth minister, which the parish hopes to employ.
"The parish council, made up of churchgoers, made the decision to seek permission to sell the building," he said.
"The main parish centre of St Nicholas is thriving and growing with people attending from all over Goulburn as well as from places up to 30 minutes away like Tarago and Crookwell."
Rector Davey was one of three Archdioceses representatives who attended a meeting with Towrang community members on Monday.
He said the parish would consider the proposals from the community, but said no objections to the sale had been raised when parishioners were asked in 2021.
Melisa said the meeting was a start, but that community members still remained at odds with the move to sell.
"There was a lot of back and forth about what the church proposed and what the community was concerned about," she said.
"They took note about what was raised and are going to get back to us on some points, but they're pretty adamant they need to sell it to advance what they already have in town and that the people here can drive into town to attend a church service.
"For us though it's more about the history and preserving what's already here. So there was a difference of opinion there."
Permission for the sale of St. John's will go before the next Anglican Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Synod in Canberra on June 17.
The parish stressed any potential buyer would need to comply with laws regarding the heritage-listed building and gravesite.
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