MONROE - Since 1985, the Mt. Olive Evangelical Lutheran congregation has called its church on 16th Avenue home. On Aug. 28, however, Mt. Olive officially merged with Resurrection Lutheran Church in Verona and is now Resurrection-Monroe Lutheran Church.

"We - both congregations, Monroe and Verona - had voted for the merger on Aug. 13," new pastor Nathan Strutz said. "So, when Pastor Donald Swartz officially retired on Aug. 27, the next day we officially merged."

Mt. Olive had seen a decline in membership over the past several years, and Resurrection saw a potential opportunity for growth - both in physical churches as well as spreading, in Strutz's words, "the Word of God."

"We're very excited about the opportunity in Monroe. It's a town with a lot of good people," Strutz said. "Both campuses are excited."

Monroe currently has just 60 members, but combined with Verona that number exceeds 400.

The church building itself was built in 1916 and still has a working bell tower. Strutz and his assistant, Tim Priewe, are hoping to run fundraisers and organize events to bring new faces through the doors.

Strutz also said that despite the merger, worship times will not change - 10:30 a.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Mondays.