STANDISH Usually, the members of Richville Chapel in Standish are the ones responding when community members need help. But, after last weeks arson that burned the small chapel to the ground, the extended community is coming to the aid of the church.

After hearing about the June 14 fire, which eyewitnesses told police was committed by two teenage boys, people from nearby and far off have offered the non-denominational church built in 1892 organs, pianos, new Bibles and songbooks, as well as monetary donations, said Greg Martin, the pastor.

One of the most beneficial donations came from nearby Richville Library. Within hours of the fire, library director Karen McNutt called Martin to offer the librarys community room as a temporary sanctuary.

My husband, David McNutt, who went to the church as a child, got the idea Thursday real quick and said they needed a place to meet. So I had a customer in the library at the time that knew the minister of the church. She gave me the number of the church and I left a message Thursday and they called me back before we closed on Thursday and said, yes, wed like to meet at the library, said Karen McNutt.

Ironically, McNutt said, the library burned in 1970 and directors at the time, seeing a need for community space in the rural section of Standish, redesigned its layout to incorporate a large gathering room to be used by community organizations.

The community helped us in our time of need and now we can help the church, she said. And we have the community room, which we wouldnt have had if we didnt have the fire. We thought the community room was a thing of the future that wed need, and it is. So I guess good comes out of bad.

According to Joe Thomas, acting state fire marshal, few details of how the fire started or how the teenagers were identified as suspects are being released due to an ongoing investigation. He did confirm that eyewitnesses saw the two teens at the church just before the fire. The teens, when investigators are not naming due to their age, are being charged with burglary and arson.

Firefighters from six area towns fought the blaze, which billowed dense smoke and spit fire into treetops, responding at about 1:20 p.m. They were able to bring the fire under control by 2:30 p.m. and left the scene at 5 p.m. Lack of manpower hampered their efforts since the fire took place on a weekday afternoon, Chief Brent Libby said. Standish responded with six people initially who first had to remove a downed power line and address two burning trees in addition to the burning church.

New space

On Sunday, 18 congregants of the Richville Chapel met at the library, and according to Martin, the service went well, despite the odd feeling of meeting in a new place after so many years meeting in the small church tucked among large pines.

Excerpt from:
'Good can come from bad' - Community pitches in after church fire

Related Posts
June 22, 2012 at 5:27 am by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Church Construction