Joshua Jacober puts the finishing touches last week on the multipurpose room at the new SLO United Methodist Church.
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Seven years after an arson fire destroyed the sanctuary of the San Luis Obispo United Methodist Church on Easter Sunday, the church is celebrating its own resurrection.
The new sanctuary, born of the congregation’s intense desire to move forward, will be unveiled at next Sunday’s Easter celebration.
“This is an amazing marker for this building,” said Pastor Jane Voigts. “This is not just a religious holiday; the celebration of Easter is about the most impossible new life rising up.
“This is about resurrection—rising up out of fallow ground, where we didn’t think anything could grow.”
With each nail hammered into the new building, the congregation itself has grown stronger. Church members’ sweat, tears and prayers have cultivated the blackened soil — the fire that scorched the earth giving them the impetus to look ahead.
“We are having a rebirth, and it was forced on us by the fire—maybe by God,” said Dottie Andoli, a longtime congregation member. “No one said, ‘Woe is me.’ Instead, they said, ‘We are at ground zero, and now it is time to rebuild.’ ”
The fire
Veterans of the fire department who labored for more than three hours to extinguish the blaze on April 15, 2001, called it one of the worst church fires they had ever seen.
Nine charred roof support beams standing above six-foot concrete piers, cracked and buckling, were all that remained of the church. A “United Methodist Church” sign and a 50-foot-tall cross, blackened by the blaze, remained outside.
An investigation, aided by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, determined that the blaze was set intentionally. But no suspects were publicly identified. Today, lacking any new information, the arson case is shelved.
Those who saw the flames that morning say they will never forget the scene.
Andoli, a member of the church for four decades, received a call around 5:30 a. m.
“There was an immediate lurch in my stomach,” she said. “I just kept telling myself, ‘OK, it is a fire, but the fire department is there. … Buildings have fires, and they will put it out.’ ”
Andoli dressed hurriedly at her Laguna Lake home and rushed to the church.
“I could see the smoke and flames from three or four miles away, and I knew nothing was going to remain standing,” she said. “I parked my car at the bottom of the hill and attempted to run up it. But my Birkenstocks kept coming off, so I took them off and just kept running.”
As Andoli and other congregants gathered, tears streaming down their faces, they watched as the site of some of their most cherished memories burned to the ground. But while the ground still smoldered, they became resolute.
Not all was lost
“The fire burned down a building, but it didn’t burn our church — because the church is our people,” Andoli said, echoing words other worshippers spoke just days after the blaze.
Under the guidance of then Pastor Nelson Stringer and incoming Pastor Ron Griffen, the congregation began to heal.
“What we have always focused on was that the person who did this was ill and God forgives, and so we forgive,” Andoli said. “We have faith in God and (believe) things like this happen for a reason in life. It hurts, but anger never gets you forward.”
In the years following the fire, the rebuilding process refocused the congregation’s energy on the future of the building and of the congregation.
“I think of where we were seven years ago, and we were becoming stagnant. Sometimes your attention needs to be caught, and unfortunately it was a fire,” Andoli said. “It if hadn’t happened, we sort of worry where we would be. We were moved — moved by circumstances beyond our control.”
Congregation growing
Before the fire, membership at the 140-year-old church was dwindling. The congregation peaked at 1,000 members in 1974 but declined steadily until there were 300.
The aging congregation had little appeal to younger families, church members said, and community outreach was difficult. Public ministry—an anchor of the Methodist faith — also was difficult because of the congregants’ age.
Curtis Reinhart joined the church in the fall following the fire.
“Things were in disarray. Plans were being made and people were starting to pull together at that point,” he said.
Church members faced the daunting task of deciding how to finance and design the new, $7 million building.
“Having to go through the process has helped unify the congregation,” Reinhart said.
Today, younger families are joining the church and outreach is increasing. Membership is about 400.
Members say the church’s solid foundation and rich local history has given the congregation the ability to recover.
“Things have worked beautifully and we feel kind of a kindred spirit but a lot of that was there before the fire too,” said Kay Reno, a longtime church member. “It has been a common goal to continue our ministry and increase our outreach while building this building.”
“We are still a middle America- type church,” said Reno. “We are diverse in our beliefs but drawn together in belief in God and in Jesus Christ. In diversity, there is strength.”
Looking forward
The dust is still settling and finishing touches still are being added at the sanctuary.
The new sanctuary includes a spacious fellowship hall for daytime youth recreation, such as volleyball and basketball. The hall also will serve at night as a space to help with the overflow from a local homeless shelter.
The building accentuates the congregation’s growth in subtle ways. Stained glass windows have been replaced by expansive sweeping views of Madonna Mountain, Bishop Peak, and a tree-lined hill. A nursery area will accommodate the youth the congregation hopes will be a growing part of the congregation.
“It is very impressive and quite unlike any church I have ever worked on before,” said Terry Hanauer, building representative for the congregation. “The building celebrates what is on the outside of the church. I’ve never worked on a church with this many windows. No matter which direction you are looking, it is a beautiful view.”
The sanctuary’s cathedral ceiling, ornamental woodwork, and new organ shine. More than 300 people can comfortably sit in the new sanctuary and there is room to grow.
“There has been an incredible outpouring of support from the community,” said Voigts. “This is a celebration of our congregation and a thank you to the community for all they have done as they mourned with us and helped us. Today, we are more engaged in interfaith and ecumenical things because of what we have been through.”
As the congregants gather to celebrate Easter, they will do so with their eyes cast to the future — the fire a part of their history and a lesson in their perseverance.
Reach AnnMarie Cornejo at 781-7939.
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