AUBURN - Members of Auburn's First United Methodist Church have a very good understanding of the phrase “When one door closes, another opens.”

A few months ago, Trinity United Methodist Church was forced to close its doors due to the poor shape of its facilities.

In a selfless show of kindness, First Methodist immediately welcomed Trinity's congregation with open minds and hearts.

Ladies from both churches were present at First Methodist earlier this week to volunteer at a rummage sale, held to raise funds for the church, whose membership has nearly doubled in size.

The bazaar took place from Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, and featured the sale of a vast array of merchandise donated by church members and other community residents.

“Because of our jubilee celebration this year (for the 50th anniversary of First Methodist's newest building), we decided to hold a rummage sale again,” Natalie Edmunds, a church member who helped organize the bazaar, said from the church Friday morning.

The church had not held a sale for the past few years, she continued, “because a lot of the ladies who volunteer (at the sale) work, so it was hard for us to find people to work at this sale, too.”

But during the jubilee dinner, which was held in April, church members decided to hold a rummage sale once more# - and with a larger congregation, finding volunteers was no problem.

“The ladies from Trinity have been a wonderful addition to our church,” Edmunds said.

Besides its new members, First Methodist recently welcomed a new pastor, the Rev. Jeff Childs, who came to Auburn from a church in Rome.

“Reverend Childs has added a lot of energy here ... and with the people from Trinity, our church has just been energized overall,” she added.

That energy was apparent Friday morning, as a handful of patrons browsed through clothing, china and furniture that were part of the assorted sale items displayed throughout the church fellowship hall.

At a table at one end of the room sat several volunteers who collected money earned from the sale. Among those was Eileen Golden, of Auburn, who is a former member of Trinity Methodist.

“I've felt more gain than loss since we've come here,” she said. “It's lifted the burden of us having to worry about our building, and having to find the money to repair it, and allowed us to concentrate on the Lord,” she added.