From WDSU News:
The Houma Fire Department officials are investigating an early-morning blaze that destroyed St. Matthew's Episcopal Church at the intersection of Barrow and Belanger Streets.Pray for the rector and congregation of St. Matthew's and for the students and teachers at St. Matthew's school.
The fire was reported around 3:41 a.m. Thursday.
Officials say the church was completely engulfed in flames. Portions of the school and surrounding trees are reported to have been destroyed as well. Witnesses reported seeing flames up to 100 feet in the air.
St. Matthew's Church is on The National Register of Historic Places.
Houma, Louisiana, is about 20 miles away from Thibodaux, where I live. I've attended activities at St. Matthew's on several occasions. How sad. St. Matthew's was a lovely old church.
UPDATE: From the Daily Comet:
The full extent of the damage remains unclear, but damage was sustained at the church and the lower building of the school. Houma Fire Department District Chief Chris LeCompte said nobody was in the church or the school at the time.
Members of the tight-knight congregation learned of the overnight fire by way of a flurry of phone calls made as the community awakened and encountered firefighters and flashing lights still surrounding the smoke-filled intersection.
Some parishioners, teachers and school workers gathered nearby to watch firefighters work.
Beulah Rodrigue, a church member for 70 years, said she was among a group of ladies who spent the past 11 years on needlepoint work that decorated the sanctuary's prayer kneelers.
Rodrigue peered down Barrow Street this morning, toward the spot where the church's steeple once poked through the trees.
“You can't see the church from here any more,” she said. “To me, (the church) was the star of Houma.”
Updates continue at the Daily Comet website.
UPDATE 2:
But church officials said they will rebuild the historic church.
“The church will be rebuilt. We're not sure what it will look like, but the outpouring of support we've gotten from the community has been very encouraging and affirmative,” said the Reverend Craig Dalferes, pastor of St. Matthew's.
He added that much remains uncertain in the immediate aftermath of the fire. Church administration will meet tonight to decide where the congregation will meet on Sunday. Dalferes said a number of community churches have called to offer St. Matthew's aid.
Oh, what sad news. I'm so sorry to hear this. All who love this community will be in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteJust heard this on the radio. What a terrible loss.
ReplyDeleteSaw that in the news up here. What a beautiful building, what a loss.
ReplyDeleteSuch a sad loss - and yet - I'm thinking about conversations I've had (some of them on this blog) about the cost of buildings and the questions about stewardship and mission.
ReplyDeleteThat is not to take away from the profound sense of loss these folks must be feeling or to diminish the fact that it is, in fact, a tragic loss.
I'm just wondering out loud, is all.
The rector and the congregation face many difficult decisions, but today, they are grief-stricken. The time for serious decision-making will come later.
ReplyDeleteThose old wooden buildings are like tinder boxes, which is a good reason to have a sprinkler system installed if it can at all be afforded. It pays for itself in the end.
ReplyDeleteBuildings, like people, are mortal; only we'd like them to be a little less mortal than ourselves. They are our visible link from the past and into the future. So, it is always a cause for grief to lose a beloved old structure.
ReplyDeleteThe congregation will survive and prosper again someday. Our parish saw its church burn down twice in its history.
How very sad! Prayers for all.
ReplyDeleteLife will go on for the congregation of St. Matthew's, surely. Perhaps it's wrong to invest so much sentiment in a building, but I know I would grieve if our beautiful 166 year old building was destroyed.
ReplyDeleteSo sad.
ReplyDeleteVery sad. I assume it was insured? They can't rebuild? ... I know it wouldn't be the same :-(
ReplyDeleteChurch spires make all the difference to the atmosphere of a town. Buildings have a soul, or something like it. It seems right to grieve.
Cathy, I can't believe that the church was not insured. The stained glass in the church was beautiful. The artisans surely put their souls into making the glass.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who recently went through this (St James, Albion MI: burned down May 2007, rebuilt/rededicated September 2009), I can testify resurrection IS possible! :-D
ReplyDeleteJCF, you are exactly right. Resurrection is possible. Thanks be to God.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenager our brand new church was gutted by fire the week before it was to be opened and dedicated, so my heart goes out to the community of St Matthew's, especially as they have a long history of ministry and memories there. Prayers for all affected.
ReplyDeleteI used to teach at St. Matthew's and while I'm now far away, I am still heartbroken.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, I am heartbroken, too. It's hard to believe that St. Matthew's beautiful building is gone. I'll have to see to believe, but I'm not in a hurry to visit the sad site.
ReplyDelete