Superior, Iowa ? When this town’s century-old United Methodist church was shuttered last December, it became another among many closed in rural Iowa because of dwindling congregations and a lack of resources.

The trend is being lamented by historians and preservationists who say that, as these immigrant-built churches disappear, so does the heritage of those who settled the prairie. Church officials aren’t happy, either.

Marcia Sangel, superintendent of the northwest Iowa district for the United Methodist Church, said she had “an argument with God” about closing the church where she was baptized and confirmed.

But an aging population and residents moving away left the congregation at Superior United Methodist Church too small to be effective, she said.

“A real small church can’t be a ministry that reaches out,” she said. “The congregation needs to go to other churches to be nurtured rather than taking care of a building.”

Ten Methodist churches in rural Iowa have closed in the past five years, while new ones opened in Des Moines and Sioux City, said Kristin Knudson Harris, spokeswoman for the denomination’s Iowa Conference.

At least seven Evangelical Lutheran churches have closed during the same period. “Rural Iowa is not faring real well right now,” says Paul Bengtson, assistant to the bishop in Fort Dodge.

About 18 Roman Catholic churches have closed and some parishes have merged.

“In these small towns, schools have been consolidated, post offices have closed down, the elevator and banks have been bought out,” said Carol Hoverman, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Dubuque. “It’s like the death of these small towns.”

Superior, 145 miles north of Des Moines, lost its school in the 1950s. The general store shut down in the 1960s and the cafe burned down in the 1990s. The grain elevator and post office are among the few services that remain in a community of just 120 people.