St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baldwin recently announced that its Early Learning Center will close after 29 years.

The church broke the news in a letter to the community and cited financial issues as a reason for the closure.

It stated in part, “the up and down economy and the advent of universal pre-K has impacted our enrollment numbers over the last few years."

The Early Learning Center staff will continue to provide a caring learning environment until the end of the year, according to officials.