{"id":17944,"date":"2023-06-13T15:08:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T19:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=17944"},"modified":"2023-06-13T15:08:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T19:08:16","slug":"i-dont-think-god-made-the-fire-160-year-old-church-building-burns-to-the-ground-after-lightning-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/06\/i-dont-think-god-made-the-fire-160-year-old-church-building-burns-to-the-ground-after-lightning-strike","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI don\u2019t think God made the fire.\u201d 160-Year-Old Church Building Burns to the Ground After Lightning Strike"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Spencer Police Department \/ Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Firefighters responded to a call at the First Congregational Church in Spencer, Massachusetts, after the church had been struck by lightning. Soon, the 160-year-old building burst into flame. \u201cIt was small at first, and then the whole thing was engulfed. It\u2019s really sad,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Samantha Holmes. John Mutlick, another bystander who witnessed the fire, called it a loss to the community. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty devastating because there\u2019s been a lot of people I know who have gotten married here; a lot of people went to the recovery center here.\u201d The church was built in 1743 after a wealthy merchant, Nathanial Cunningham, donated the land upon the church to be built, making the church a decade older than the town of Spencer itself. A bigger church was constructed in 1772, with the steeple being added in 1802.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The church\u2019s interim pastor, Rev. Bruce Macleod, stated the church had been made completely of wood, accounting for how quickly the building burned down. The Spencer Fire Department reported that no one had been injured and shared pictures of the fire on its\u00a0<\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a>\u00a0page. Smoke from the fire could reportedly be seen in neighboring towns. The department thanked numerous other departments for their help in putting out the six-alarm fire so quickly. \u201cThis was a monumental task that was out of control within minutes of the fire alarm call. We\u2019re glad there were no injuries or truck damage,\u201d the post said. The department also acknowledged the loss of the historic church to the community. \u201cWe feel for the Church Community for the loss of their place of worship,\u201d the post added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The congregation of 30 combined with the First Congregational Church of Leicester, where Rev Macleod is also the interim pastor. The congregation has not determined whether they will rebuild the church or sell the lot. Preaching the following Sunday, Rev. Macleod stated he did not believe God was the source of the fire. \u201cI have to say [that] I don\u2019t think God made the fire,\u201d he\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t think God makes us sick. I don\u2019t think God makes the bad things happen. I don\u2019t think God does it to teach us things. I don\u2019t 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.\u201d Soon after the service,\u00a0<\/span>Snopes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0referred to the story after a post went viral stating a \u201cWoke LGBTQ+ church\u201d was struck by lightning. Although Snopes did acknowledge the church\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Facebook page<\/span><\/a>\u00a0had some LGBTQ+ friendly posts, it did not connect the two events.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not the first time a fire has destroyed the church. In 1862, the church was also completely burned down when two boys were heating up the house for a preparatory lecture. According to an 1862 story in the\u00a0<\/span>Gazette & Courier in Greenfield<\/span><\/a>, \u201cA fire which recently consumed the Congregational church at Spencer originated in the employment of two boys to heat the house for a preparatory lecture. The boys crowded in the hemlock wood till the stoves were white hot, and a little while after they left, the church was wrapped in flames. Nothing was saved but the large Bible. The church was insured for $3,000 in the Merchants and Farmers\u2019 office of Worcester.\u201d The church was rebuilt and dedicated in 1863.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Firefighters responded to a call at the First Congregational Church in Spencer, Massachusetts, after the church had been struck by lightning. Soon, the 160-year-old building burst into flame. \u201cIt was small at first, and then the whole thing was engulfed. It\u2019s really sad,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Samantha Holmes. John Mutlick, another bystander who witnessed the fire, called it a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":17948,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cI don\u2019t think God made the fire.\u201d 160-Year-Old Church Building Burns to the Ground After Lightning Strike<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 160-year-old church was burned down after lightening strike.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/06\/i-dont-think-god-made-the-fire-160-year-old-church-building-burns-to-the-ground-after-lightning-strike\" 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