All Saints Worshippers Undaunted by Cathedral Fire
On Sunday, June 30, Fr. Ross Kimball, interim Rector at All Saints Amesbury, was out of state, filling in for another ADNE clergy person. At 7:30 a.m., his cell phone rang. An All Saints parishioner was calling to inform him that there had been a fire in the church during the early morning hours. Although the fire was limited to a closet area in the vestibule of the church and had been quickly extinguished, the fire chief determined that the building could not be occupied. What should we do about the worship service scheduled to begin in two hours and the ordination service scheduled for that afternoon?
The initial thought was to hold the service outdoors with no music and no slides/prayer books. The church pulled together, however, to do much better than that! In the end, Nick Friend, the church administrator, gathered the teams involved in Sunday morning worship including the altar team, the music team, the celebrant and preacher (Rev. Cn. Dr. Susan Skillen), and others, to provide a complete outdoor service. All Saints was undaunted by the “minor” setback created by the fire. The congregation worshipped outdoors for three more Sundays and then were able to return to the sanctuary.
That wasn’t all though The Pastor of the local Roman Catholic church then allowed the Diocese to hold the ordination – of the Rev. Jennifer Keifer – in his church on the afternoon of the fire. Following the ordination service, Bishop Andrew and Elena graciously opened their home for a reception.
The small fire in the limited vestibule area had, unfortunately, a huge impact on the rest of the building, especially the sanctuary. Everything – chairs, rugs, floors, instruments, organ, altar, vestments, and all other surfaces and contents were covered with oily, toxic dust. This required the church to retain several vendors to address the issues. Acting as point person, Nick worked with the vendors, the insurance company, and a public adjuster to coordinate the response and insurance related matters. Most of the work is done, and the church hopes to have it all completed within the next month. And insurance will cover the entire loss!
While this has been a challenging time, the congregation has seen with great clarity the hand of the Lord in all that has happened since. They cannot but join the psalmist when he says, “The Lord has done great thigs for us, and we are filled with joy.” And, to use an expression a friend of ours came up with a few years ago, they are trusting that the Lord will Romans 8:28 this situation.