A fire destroyed a nearly 200-year-old church in Eastford early Sunday morning.
Hours later, the congregation of the Congregational Church of Eastford came together to hold a worship service at a local elementary school.
The fire started around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, bringing firefighters from about a dozen fire departments who brought the blaze under control in three hours.
The fire destroyed the church, which was built in 1829, and an 1879 pipe organ. Now, a single cross stands above the rubble.
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But no one was hurt in the fire and the congregation is looking forward, to the future of the church.
Within hours, plans came together to hold a worship service at Eastford Elementary School at 10:30 a.m. and for the kids' club to meet at Eastford Baptist Church's Family Activity Center.
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As Pastor Mike Moran stood before his congregation Sunday morning while they met in a different location, he had a message of hope.
“The church is not the building. The church is the people, he said.
Moran said the church will rebuild and continue its mission of inspiring hope.
Bev Lindemann, a member of the congregation, shared the sentiment as well.
“The church is the people,” she said.
Lindemann’s family has a long history of belonging to this church.
“My great uncle was the minister here in 1920. And that's how my grandma met my grandpa,” she said.
“I'm very numb still. There's a lot of a lot of memories,” she added.
