The Wendouree Uniting Church held its last service on Sunday afternoon, with 91-year-old parishioner Heather McClure ceremonially closing the doors.
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Following a service where former ministers, including one from England, led prayers of lament and thanks, the congregation will now disperse to other churches, and the building has been put up for sale.
Kath Homberg has been at the church for 40 years, after initially going to Jubilee Church in Wendouree.
"It's sad, to be quite honest, it's really, really sad because we could see it coming, but it's the way of the world, people aren't going to church any more," she said.
"We just didn't have the numbers to keep going."
She said the sense of community amongst the parishioners, particularly the ladies groups she had been part of, had been "lovely, just really good" - the groups were also able to raise thousands of dollars for charitable causes across Ballarat.
The church council's chairman, Alec Wood, said the changing demographics made the closure inevitable.
"We're an ageing group, two of the normal congregation have been in work, and the rest are retired or pensioners," he said.
"In Ballarat, we had a lot of churches within walking distance, it was the neighbourhood church."
That's echoed by Reverend Doctor Graeme Sutton, who noted Ballarat once boasted 13 Uniting Churches.
"Now, they drive from the other side of town too, they don't necessarily go to their neighbourhood church," he said.
"It's not just happening only in the Uniting Church, but because of the size, and the influence of the Uniting Church, we've been noting it a bit more.
"We've been trying to work with congregations so they make the decision, it's the congregation that has made the decision.
"Now, society has changed so much that weddings, funerals, even baptisms are not as important any more, civil celebrants have taken over and the church doesn't have the same place."
The Wendouree Uniting Church moved to its current location in 1964, with services taking place in the church hall as the population living around it exploded.
In 1999, the precinct was expanded to include a chapel and more offices.
A portion of the proceeds of the sale will go to Ballarat Regional Healthcare Chaplaincy, and to a new meals program for Uniting Ballarat to combat social isolation.
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