Conshohocken church rising from its own ashes

The toils and snares that led the First Baptist Church at Conshohocken to what it describes as an amazing new year back home were sparked by an errant blowtorch.

It touched off a fire that engulfed the Neo-Gothic church built in 1902 and flattened everything but its bell tower and an adjacent stone wall.

That was eight years ago.

It has taken that long for the congregation of 60 to muster the money and labor that has enabled them to spend the start of 2014 in their new building at Fourth Avenue and Harry Street.

"It's such a feeling of victory," said Eva Ross, 84, a longtime church member.

The congregation is celebrating completion of the first stage of a $3 million rebuilding that it had no idea would be eight years in the making.

Members are holding services in the fellowship hall, where they have a temporary occupancy permit. They held their first service there the Sunday before Thanksgiving. A formal dedication is planned for February or March.

But amid the celebration is the recognition that the church still has a long way to go. Classrooms, offices, a dining facility, and the sanctuary have yet to be completed.

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Conshohocken church rising from its own ashes