'There is still hope': Sunday service solemn remembrance after fire at Spencer church
LEICESTER — Sunday was a day to celebrate life at the First Congregational Church in Leicester as a baby girl was baptized in front of her family and welcomed into a larger family of congregants.
Sunday was also a day of solemn remembrance as it was just two days after parishioners from the Congregational Church in Spencer, who attended a joint service at the Leicester church, lost their church to a Friday night fire caused by a lightning strike.
Rev. Bruce MacLeod, the interim pastor for the First Congregational churches in both Leicester and Spencer, started his sermon asking the parishioners to take deep breaths.
"We come today with such mix of emotions, broken hearts," MacLeod said. "There's a hole in our hearts and yet we are here for hope. We are here to celebrate the baptism."
Originally built for 600 congregants, the First Congregational Church at 207 Main St. (Route 9) in Spencer was reduced to rubble. The congregation dates to 1743. The current church was built in 1863 after fire destroyed the previous building a year earlier. The current church was expanded in the 1960s.
Steeple collapses in fire
Friday, crews from Spencer and surrounding communities converged on the church about 3 p.m. Fire equipment had to be cleared from the immediate area when it became apparent that the steeple would collapse. It fell to the left of the church.
By 5 p.m., firefighters on tower ladders were dousing the shell of the church from above.
Fire chiefs responding to the scene said they had never seen a fire burn as hot or as fast.
No one was in the church at the time of the fire.
Rich history lost
The quaint Leicester church saw full pews Sunday, due in part to a baptism that was supposed to be held in the Spencer church. The family has a long connection with the Spencer church.
In a room next to the sanctuary, there is a small table adorned with documents and portraits from the early days of the Leicester church. MacLeod sadly confirmed that such artifacts at the Spencer church were lost in the fire. A pipe organ that had only recently been returned was also caught in the blaze.
"It's a sign life goes on and there is still hope because it's easy to lose hope when the symbols that you value have been destroyed. You can't stay in your despair. You have to get up and move on because there is still life."
Rev. Bruce MacLeod, interim pastor for First Congregational churches in Leicester and Spencer
At the Leicester church, members of both congregations met and embraced ahead of MacLeod's sermon. Several of the Spencer congregants, some of whom were well into their 80s, had been attending that church since they were children.
Robert Rivers of Spencer was baptized in the First Congregational Church in Spencer in 1940 and his family has a long history in the church. He was also married in the church and saw his own children baptized.
He appreciated the service Sunday.
"It was very nice there was a lot of people here. I feel satisfied," Rivers said. "But the church will be missed, a lot of memories in it. A lot of good things that were had there."
'Message of hope for the future'
Mary Ring, 86, of Spencer said she was not feeling well after the fire.
"I grew up in the church in Spencer and so did my children," Ring said. "My oldest daughter, yesterday was her 45th wedding anniversary and she was married in the church in Spencer. So that kind of hurts the whole family."
She said she was "brokenhearted" when she saw that the church had caught fire.
"As I watched on TV, seeing the church burn was really, really sad," Ring said, "Very sad day and we were thankful we could come here today."
However, Ring said it was important for her to attend the service Sunday and she appreciated the message.
"It's a message of hope for the future," Ring said.
'Isn't about a building'
As he performed the baptism, MacLeod said his tradition teaches that baptism is all about how people are born into the body of Christ, a spirit that continues on with the community around the church.
"Being born into the body of Christ isn't about a building. It's about the people, about being a part of this congregation," MacLeod said. "That ultimately becomes more important."
Saturday, MacLeod said he did not consider the fire an "act of God," and he reiterated his belief in his sermon.
"I don't think God made the fire. I don't think God makes us sick. I don't think God makes bad things happen," MacLeod said. "I don't think God does it to teach us things. I don't think God does it to punish us. I do believe God is there with us in the midst of it and that God is here with us to help us pick up the pieces and figure out what to do next."
MacLeod said the congregational tradition does not revere the church building, adding the tradition goes back to the pilgrim and Puritan days of New England where churches also served as general town meeting houses.
More: 'It just went to black': Local fire chiefs on blaze leveling First Congregational Church
MacLeod: God will always be present
However, he recognized that sacred events occurred at the Spencer church and began thinking of the churches as similar to the Ark of the Covenant, a box the Israelites used to carry the essence of their faith, the Ten Commandments, to ensure that God was always present in their travels.
While the siege of Jerusalem, where the Israelites had built a temple and placed the Ark of the Covenant, may have left the Israelites to feel that God had left them as they were forced to leave the holy land, MacLeod said a passage from the Book of Ezekiel reveals that God will always be present.
"What God said to Ezekiel was, 'You may be out there, you may be all bones in a field, but I will come to you where you are. Because my name is I Will Be There and I keep my promise,'" MacLeod said.
Unsure about future
Following the sermon, MacLeod said he was unsure about the future for the Spencer congregation. He said there so far had been a sense from parishioners that they wanted to continue as a congregation and community.
"What I'm hearing is people saying, 'We're not ready to roll over. We don't want to abandon our ministry in Spencer,'" MacLeod said.
With attendance down, the two churches had already been sharing worship and alternating buildings.
Following the fire, MacLeod said he has received more communications from people in the past 48 hours than he had in his entire life. Those well-wishes came from friends, acquaintances and even people who he did not know who were nonetheless moved to offer their condolences.
On holding a baptism on the same day as the first service following the fire, MacLeod said it was a reminder that life is ongoing.
"It's a sign life goes on and there is still hope because it's easy to lose hope when the symbols that you value have been destroyed," MacLeod said. "You can't stay in your despair. You have to get up and move on because there is still life."
However, the proud family will need to wait a little while to get their baptism certificate, as it was another treasured item lost in the fire.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Sunday service solemn remembrance after fire at Spencer church
