After the Fire ...

The Morning after ...

It has been a long twenty four hours ... Yesterday at 6 am, my day began harshly with the ringing of the phone to tell me our historic 105 year old church building was on fire ... By 8 am it was gone ... a smouldering ruin that took the better part of the afternoon to extinguish.

The losses are immeasurable ... how do you calculate the losses of a building that has served generations of a prairie community town?

From the hand made toys in the nursery to the Honour Roll Plaques, my mind reels at the enormity of the loss. In my mind's eye I walk from room to room and think about what it is that went up in flames yesterday ... the groups and organizations who have lost EVERYTHING. In every cupboard, in every corner, in every room were treasures and things belonging to our cubs and scouts, our brownies and guides, our UCW, our AOTS, our Choir (oh, the loss our Choir have experienced is simply staggering ... gowns, folders, stands, and the music: a cupboard that was eight feet wide, eight feet high and packed full of thousands of pieces of music gathered over the last 105 years !!!! - my heart grieves for the choir) ... Then we step into the sanctuary and begin to tall the losses there - the new organ, the new piano, the communion table and the baptismal font built lovingly by saints of our congregation ... The hymn books, from Blue to Green to Burgundy - ALL of them are gone ...

The list goes on and on and on ... banners, toys, books ... as I walk through each room in my minds' eye the list grows and grows and grows ...

Thankfully, there were some bright spots: The offices were unscathed - smelly and damp - but unscathed. The fireman went in and saved my "treasures" then, at the end of the afternoon a group of us went in and cleaned out the records, the computer, and my books (I have gathered a vast library and by the grace of God - it's okay ...). Today we will go in again and clean out everything we can get out the door and into a vehicle ...

Then across the street, in a borrowed office - we will hang our pictures and we will resume as best we can, our presence on Main St ...

Words can not express the thanks I feel for the support and care we've recieved. The emails, the calls, the prayers - all are appreciated.

The hard work has begun. Like a gaping wound, the smouldering ruins of what was an incredible church will remind us all for coming days of the whole that this fire has formed in the life, not only of our Faith Community, but of our whole Community. There are few families who do not call our sanctuary "my church" or who have turned to us for transitions and passages, or who have been in the building for something ... showers, socials, concerts, nursery school, marriages, baptisms, funerals, special events ... the list is as long as the history of the building ... the memories and tears are flowing thick and fast ...

It hurts. It will hurt more and more today as we count our losses ... but like the message of resurrection tells us with great certainty - we will count our blessings and we know that the Church of Minnedosa United Church stands unscathed.

We sing it often, but today we begin to live it - "the church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is NOT a meeting place - THE CHURCH IS A PEOPLE."
Today, the Church in Minnedosa will weep at the senselessness of this ... tomorrow we will begin to journey forward knowing that each step is a resurrection ...

Thanks and stay tuned - we'll be back ... Today we tell the world when we change our sign ...

Today it WILL read: "Stay tuned, we'll be back ..."

And tomorrow we will be ... every step on the journey is a resurrection ... today our steps are faultering a bit, but we'll get there ...