Sunday services for the Grace Episcopal Church are expected to resume next week, after a fire burned down the church’s kitchen and damaged the building’s parish hall.

This week’s Sunday service relocated across the street to the Temple Concord, a synagogue, six days after the fire broke out at the rear of the church. The synagogue’s rabbi, Daniel Fellman, reached out to members of the church after hearing about the fire damage, said the Rev. Johanna Marcure, the church’s rector. The fire damage may affect several church activities, and the cleanup process is still underway.

“The rabbi was gracious enough to give us this space,” said Louis Clark, a member of Grace Episcopal Church’s congregation. “I didn’t feel any difference in our worship today.”

Chuck Vanderpool, who oversees the church’s buildings and grounds, said the church couldn’t have service in the sanctuary as expected because cleanup crews were unable to remove all the soot in time.

The cause has yet been determined, but Vanderpool said investigators told him the night of the fire that it had started from the church’s kitchen stove.

Onondaga County’s Fire Investigation Unit could not be reached for comment.

“It’s going to be a big setback for the church. Not so much for the worship part, where we would worship in the sanctuary, but it’s going to be a big setback for things we have going on,” Vanderpool said, referencing suppers, group meetings and Sunday school sessions held in the rooms damaged by the fire.

ServiceMaster, a restoration company, is currently in charge of cleaning up the damaged church, removing all the rubble and smoked items out of the building, along with boarding up windows and cleaning the walls, Vanderpool said. He estimated it will be another two weeks before they’re done.

The fire destroyed the church’s kitchen and damaged parts of the church’s parish hall, including its conference room, the church’s office and the Sunday school classroom, Marcure said during her sermon on Sunday.

The congregation has formed a restoration committee to help with the process, Marcure said. She added one of its main purposes is to look at how the rebuilding can help better the church’s community service.

Efforts to clean up the soot-filled rooms and smoke-damaged items have already begun, and churchgoers can expect their Sunday service to resume in the Grace Episcopal Church by next week, she said.

“This is a congregation that is very strong and has gone through critical moments,” Marcure said. “When something happens, it’s been my experience that this is a community that rallies together.”

Michael Atkins, a volunteer at the church, was at Sunday’s service and said he remained optimistic about the church’s restoration.

Said Atkins: “It pulls us closer together, and it even pulls the community together, because when you look at the outpouring of the support and people calling to see what they can do, it gives us a chance to look at our future.”

Published on September 15, 2013 at 11:54 pm

Contact Alfred: alng@syr.edu

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