A small fire in the sanctuary’s carpet at New Hope Presbyterian Church in Erie resulted in renovations that will cost a couple hundred thousand dollars due to smoke damage.
Finding a beacon of light while sifting through the ashes following a fire isn’t easy. At New Hope Presbyterian Church in Erie, PA, the positive vibes that have come the congregation’s way since that May 9 emergency have helped carry it forward.
It was on this Thursday morning that smoke was seen in the sanctuary of the building. With the local fire department arriving within minutes and quickly extinguishing the 10-foot-by-10-foot area, on the surface it would seem that the fire was minor. However, all told, the damage done by the smoke resulted in six figures worth of repairs.
“A little fire ended up being a couple hundred thousand dollars by the time everything is said and done,” estimated New Hope Church Commissioned Pastor Clay Woodring.
The cause of the fire was determined to be the Christ’s candle that wasn’t properly extinguished at the front of the sanctuary on Sunday morning. In the four days between the worship service and when the fire was detected, the candle was smoldering. It wasn’t until Thursday morning that things began to escalate.
“They can hollow themselves out down the middle,” Clay said of the candle. “It must have reignited, burned for four days, and then melted through on the carpet and started a fire.”
With Clay away at a pastors’ retreat at nearby Lake Chautauqua in New York and the church secretary on vacation, no one was in the building following the Sunday service. Fortunately, Bob Phifer, the church’s treasurer, happened to stop by the morning of the fire, saw the smoke and quickly called the fire department.
“He comes in and uses the computer and checks on things,” Clay said of Bob. “Some days he’s here, some days he’s not. He comes in later, some days earlier.”
“He looked in the sanctuary windows and couldn’t see the back pew from the narthex. The firemen said, with as much smoke as there was, another half hour and we would have had a flashover and we would have been like Girard Presbyterian down the road that burned to the ground a few years ago. I looked at it as divine intervention.”
As fate would have it, the fire department was just four blocks away at a traffic accident and they were no longer needed when they were dispatched to New Hope Church. It allowed the emergency crews to respond even quicker than normal due to their close proximity to the church building.
“It’s a miracle that (Bob) was here at that time and the fire truck was that close,” Clay added.
Casualties of the fire were the 10×10 area of the carpet, a few choir chairs and part of the modesty rail. Adding expense to the situation is the fact that the sanctuary is a 35-foot A-frame design with a wood ceiling, meaning all of the pews had to be removed in order to clean the ceiling.
Girard Church is doing its part to help its neighbors, as it is donating a new Christ candle to New Hope Church “as a way of showing solidarity with us,” Clay said.
“It’s just been incredible the amount of prayer support, cards and people stepping up to the plate,” he continued. “We had people from as far away as Indiana state that were at that pastors’ conference. All these Presbyterians are praying for us, and it just boomeranged. We have been taken care of, prayed for.”
Repairs in the sanctuary following a May 9 fire are not expected to be completed until September at the earliest.
One way the church has been taken care of is through an account the church set up 10 years ago to cover the cost of the insurance deductible in case an event like this occurred. Having the foresight to do this has lessened the burden on the church as it scrambles to renovate its building.
In-person worship was canceled the Sunday after the fire, but Clay did deliver a message on Facebook to his congregation.
“I just told them I felt like we were attacked by Satan,” he said. “He doesn’t like our church. We do a lot in the community. We are a solid church, very loving. We’re small – we average upper 30s to low 40s. We do a lot of donations to a lot of non-profits. We do a lot of things.
“Satan doesn’t like us. It was a week before Pentecost. The reason Satan wanted us out of here was we were getting four new members. The church was going to grow. It was fiery darts of Satan and they failed, they backfired.”
Worship has been held in the fellowship hall since the fire. Clay estimated that it won’t be until September at the earliest until the congregation is worshiping again in the sanctuary.
This fall, New Hope Church will celebrate its formation when Erie-area churches Perkins Presbyterian Church and Sarah Hearn Presbyterian Church merged 16 years ago. The fire comes at a time when the congregation can make some changes to the church in terms of a different color of paint in the sanctuary and new pew cushions while also celebrating a time of renewal and rebuilding.
“We’re looking at it as the phoenix rising from the flame,” Clay said.
In the weeks after the fire, attendance has increased. The timing of this isn’t lost on Clay.
“Even since we had the people join at Pentecost, we’ve had other people start coming to church,” he said. “They didn’t even know about the fire, they just walked in off the street. I’m believing that things are moving in the right direction and we’re gonna grow. People want to be part of our ministries.”
These events have helped shape New Hope Church to not only live into its name but also pave the way for a bright future.
“We’re wrapped up in His arms and He loves us,” Clay said. “He has plans for us. We’re solid. The love atmosphere in this church is just incredible. We are God’s children, every one of us.”