First Congregational Church of Spencer holds service where church stood before major fire

SPENCER — The past, present and future of the First Congregational Church of Spencer were discussed Sunday morning during a worship service at the very spot where a lightning strike of the steeple ignited a six-alarm fire that destroyed the church.

“We gather here where fire did consume the arc of our covenant with you, with one another and with the town of Spencer,” said the Rev. Bruce MacLeod, the church’s interim pastor, addressing the congregation. “We gather here to remember and to grieve, to give those memories of our sorrow to your care.”

The joint service of the First Congregational Churches of Spencer and Leicester was held on the Spencer church’s basketball court. Fifty parishioners attended the gathering next to the barren field where the church once stood.

More: Flames swallow First Congregational Church in Spencer

The field is littered with broken glass and charred pieces of debris, surrounded by a chain-link fence and red safety tape that reads, "Danger.”

“Four months ago, this happened,” MacLeod said. “It’s important for us to be here. We welcome all of you as we honor this ground and as we commit ourselves to God leading us to doing whatever comes next.”

On Sunday, MacLeod pointed out to the congregation that it is reciting the same prayers that were scheduled for the Sunday service on June 4. But a strike of lightning changed all that.

“As we began to think about what this service would be, what it would hope to accomplish, I had this unformed mass of ideas,” McLeod said as he held of piece of crystallized ash that he found where the church once stood. “And I thought of a committal service, cemetery, when we commit our loved ones to the ground. In fact, this is where we are right now. We have the earth and we have the dust and we have the ashes. And so I have decided that I would share to you words of committal.”

Seeing the similarities between a funeral for the loss of a loved one and grieving the church, MacLeod marked the return of the church to its spiritual maker.

“We give to God what is here. All the building and the physical things, the things in the freezer and the things in the kitchen and the things that were in the addition. Even more than that, all of those things that were held by that arc of the covenant, by that repository, that place where your encounters with God, many of them took place over many years,” McLeod said. “Holy Spirit, this place has been sacred to the First Congregational United Church of Christ to the town of Spencer and to you. In the holy name of Jesus, we commit these ashes and earthly remains to your holy care. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

Wandering around “the mess” that is now the spot where the church once stood, MacLeod said he found a smoke detector, not melted, and a pulley used for one of the church windows.

Prior to the service, MacLeod said having the congregation gather at the site of the devastating fire had a three-fold purpose — "to honor what was lost, acknowledge where we are today and commit to what we do next.”

MacLeod said it was important to have a service in close proximity to where the church proudly stood for so many years. The building dated to 1863.

“It’s important letting the town of Spencer know we’re committed to continue to have a ministry here in this community,” MacLeod said. “It helps with the healing for people to feel like, OK, we now, at least, begin whatever this next stage is.”

'Help relieve the pain'

Sue Provo, a member of the church’s council, called the day a “blessing.”

“This is our first chance to come back to the site with the church totally removed. It’s going to help relieve the pain that we’ve gone through,” Provo said. “As we go forward and decide what to do, we can trust that it’s going to be in God’s hands.”

Provo said that they thank God every day that they have the Leicester church, as well as the Area Conference Ministry Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ, which has given them much support during the recovery process.

“We’re not as terrified as we were before about going forward,” Provo said. “We’re looking forward to it, whatever we do.”

The Rev. Liz Garrigan-Byerly, executive minister for the Area Conference Ministry Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ, was on hand.

“While this is such a tragic loss, this community has really shown that the church is never a building. It’s the people who come together,” Garrigan-Byerly said. “It’s just a really beautiful gift.”

Church organist Keith Rutkeiwicz, who played keyboards on the basketball court, said he felt that the Sunday service will generate enthusiasm among members and the community.

“This edifice was more than a church for its congregants. It was a gathering space for many in this community and beyond,” Rutkeiwicz said. “It served local chapters of Boy Scouts. There was some self-help programs that we had here. And, of course, the women of the economy shop, which have been a driving force in providing care and quality goods at affordable prices to a community that really relies on that. Their mission needs to continue and they want it to do so.”

Food pantry returns

In addition to gathering for worship, MacLeod used the opportunity to re-establish the church’s popular food pantry.

“Bringing gifts today and reestablishing the little pantry, that’s our commitment to the future,” MacLeod said. “Having food here for people whenever they need it – to pick some off or to drop some off – that’s part of the call, the mission, of the Spencer Congregational Church, and we are recommitting ourselves to it. … There will be more things. And we’ll talk about them when they come.”

Garrigan-Bylerly asked the congregation to stand up and face the sun during the closing benediction.

“I want you to feel the sun on your face,” Garrigan-Bylerly said. “And every time you do, may it be a reminder that God’s grace is as constant as the sunshine. Even when it’s foggy and misty and raining, the sun is still there.”

Before the service ended, MacLeod addressed what’s next for the church.

“We stand here thinking about the future. What will come next?” MacLeod pondered. “We have some ideas. We have some hopes. We have some dreams. But, really, what we need is to have an open heart, an open heart to shape those hopes and dreams and to be willing to find ways to be flexible enough to adjust.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: First Congregational Church of Spencer holds service where church stood before major fire