Stronger By Fire

This Saturday, July 19th, is an important milestone in the life of our church. Two years ago this Saturday, our little church encountered a big fire. During a storm, lightning struck the steeple and set it ablaze. The firefighters did all they could to rescue it, but the fire was too intense for it to be stopped; it could only be controlled. In the weeks to come, many members of our church family searched the wreckage for anything, any part of our spiritual home that we could save. Many of us cried and we felt that the loss was as profound as losing a part of our families.

For many of us, it was losing a part of our families. Most of our members have attended our church for many years. Many, like me, were raised in the church and have never truly known any other. Many of our members remembered the construction of the building we lost; they raised tobacco and saved their money to pay for windows, pews, and other necessities. Their children were raised in the church and they saw dozens saved during the Great Revivals.

My brother and I have attended this church our entire lives. My parents and grandparents attend this church. Generations of my ancestors before me have attended this church, people whose names I hear and respect, but never had the chance to know. When the fire took our building, it seemed like I had lost the last remaining physical tie I had to them.

Yet our church lived on.

We saved whole windows and broken glass; we saved stained hymnals and burnt pages of the Bible; we saved the bell and the cornerstone.

And most importantly, we saved each other.

Two years later, our church family is still together, back on the same ground, with a new building to call our spiritual home. The windows are back, the love is back, and the people are back.

With a little help from the Lord, we are made stronger by fire.