Members of First Congregational Church of Spencer will probably be gathering for service in a city over for the foreseeable future, however the congregation hopes to return to the neighborhood once more sometime, its pastor says.
A six-alarm fireplace destroyed First Congregational on Friday, and on Saturday, state fireplace officers confirmed a lighting strike brought about the 160-year-old church within the small central Massachusetts city to go up in flames.
Church members are invited to attend service at First Congregational Church-Leicester at 10 a.m. Sunday, Rev. Bruce MacLeod advised the Herald on Saturday.
“The folks from Spencer don’t want to abandon the community of Spencer,” mentioned MacLeod, who additionally leads the Leicester church. “What we’ll be figuring out over the next months and years will be ‘How do we do that? Do we do some rebuilding?’ I don’t know what it will be.”
MacLeod referred to as the Spencer congregation small, with about 30 lively members, however one that’s “really busy and active.” The church hosted a volunteer-run thrift store and meals pantry, he mentioned.
First Congregational has taken up the property at 207 Main St., in Spencer, since 1743, with the unique church a little bit larger than a barn, in accordance with the congregation’s web site. In 1862, a fireplace destroyed a bigger church inbuilt 1772.
The church, worn out by Friday’s fireplace, had served the city of almost 12,000 since 1863.
MacLeod acquired a name, whereas at dwelling Friday afternoon, from an administrator informing him that “the church was on fire,” and “it was bad.” After a half hour commute, he mentioned he arrived on the church about 5 minutes after the steeple fell.
The pastor stayed on the website till after midnight when a demolition crew completed razing the remainder of the constructing.
“It is devastating, obviously, for the church members for whom this building has been their repository of their encounters with God,” MacLeod mentioned. “We will spend the time grieving that and seeking the comfort of God. I definitely believe God is in the midst of this to help us pick up the pieces.”
Church leaders from Mary Queen of the Rosary, only a half mile away from First Congregational, and different space parishes have supplied MacLeod services his congregation might use within the interim.
By Saturday afternoon, MacLeod mentioned he had spoken with colleagues serving church buildings that had fires. He is contemplating reaching out to Faith Lutheran Church in Cambridge, destroyed throughout a six-alarm fireplace on Easter Sunday.
“It’s just amazing, to me, how people are pulling together, especially in this day and age when there’s so much division going on in the world and people can’t agree with anything,” MacLeod mentioned. “That’s not the issue at the moment. People are just stepping up asking ‘How can we help?’”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”