They didn’t really intend to buy a church. But when the Good Hope United Methodist Church near Lone Rock (10 miles northwest of Algona) closed in 2005, suddenly Julie Dodds ended up owning the 120-year-old building and the parsonage.

“We grew up about a half mile from the church,” says Susan Busch, Julie’s sister. “My mother was a church organist for 60 years, and my father was on the board. We taught Bible School and Sunday School. When you’re involved in a small church,...