The point is that the article clearly says that they are being told to stay away. The fact that they are not being “physically barred” which implies security or similar forcing them away is irrelevant.
No church is going to forbid people from attending just because they are old.
This church is about to go through a big change and reading between the lines there is an entrenched group of church members that are fighting it. I’ve seen it at other churches.
It looks like this group decided to take it to the media. I don’t trust the media.