The life of our church family has been upended by the fire that occurred in the early morning of Thursday, August 6. Many of us watched in shock as flames shot through the sanctuary roof and the building which has stood in our little Troy neighborhood on Trombley for 71 years was engulfed in smoke.

But despite the devastation of this loss, we have been blessed by the outpouring of compassion and offers of help from the community and from various local church families. We are grateful for the volunteers of the Troy Fire Department who worked tirelessly from 3am into the early hours of the afternoon to contain and put the fire out. We met so many neighbors and others who specifically drove over to offer their condolences and expressions of encouragement.

We thank God that no one was injured, including the courageous Troy Fire Department members who were inside when the sanctuary roof began to collapse. We also are grateful that the fire occurred at night when no one was at the building – we were conducting a children’s ministry this week and had many children ages 5-12 at the building each day.

Many of our members came throughout the day on Thursday to offer comfort to one another and reminisce about the decades of ministries, personal life events, community outreach, spiritual growth, and precious relationships supported by this building.

However, a recurring theme was: the church is not the building. Our stalwart structure has simply been the place where the church meets. As Scripture says, the church is the body of Christ: a living organism made up of ordinary people who serve an extraordinary God. Physical structures can be rebuilt; people are at the heart of everything we do, and the actual church – the people – will remain strong and unharmed no matter the loss of a physical building.

Many thanks to all of you who have reached out to us and continue to offer your help and encouragement. We are overwhelmed! During the coming days we will be working through a multitude of logistics as we determine our temporary meeting location and develop our short- and long-range plans to rebuild. In the meantime, we do plan to meet at the property this Sunday. The weather forecast looks promising, and we have multiple donations from generous individuals and communities to support an outdoor gathering. Please join us on Sunday at 11am as we worship God and give thanks for his protection and guidance.

We will continue to keep this page updated as additional details and needs are determined, so please feel free to check back regularly.

Report from Local 4 News