Saugatuck Congregational Church is already on the mend.
At 7:30 tonight — less than 24 hours after a fire severely destroyed part of the handsome building — a brief worship service will be held on the front lawn.
Guests are asked to bring candles, and park at the Westport Country Playhouse.
This afternoon, Saugatuck Church emailed a “Dear Friends” letter. It read:
As many of you already know, last night there was a devastating fire in our church building.
We are clearly hurt by this, but we are also profoundly thankful that the fire did not, as we feared it might, take the entire building. We have not lost our spiritual home.
At this time we know that there was severe fire damage to the choir loft, the Daniels Room, the Fellowship Room and the nursery school. We know that the sanctuary and the new education wing have at least sustained water and smoke damage. At this time, we don’t have more details on the extent.
We’ve had so many expressions of support. Sarah Verasco, Jeff Ryder, John Branson and the Town of Westport, along with many others, have stood with us through this ordeal.
So many others have come to visit or called to express their concern and support, and we know that our friends are praying for us across the state and even the entire United Church of Christ. May their prayers comfort us as we step forward.
We have spoken with our insurance provider at the Insurance Board, and they have already sent a team today. We know that we will be in a lengthy partnership with them as we look toward rebuilding.
As more information becomes available, we will send it through.
We will get through this together.
Please check out our website (www.saugatuckchurch.org) which will be updated as information becomes available.