On Monday night, May 4, 2015, at 9:45 p.m., a report came to the 911 center that Christ United Methodist Church in Selinsgrove was on fire. Nine companies responded to the scene. The whole community gathered beside members of the congregation who watched their beloved church building burn until nearly 2 a.m. But church members had a solid understanding of the following: The last thing is never the worst thing. The church is the people. God gives beauty for ashes and a future with hope.
By Shawn Gilgore
On May 5, 2015, Rev. Ryan Gephart returned home after praying with a church member, when his phone rang.
“The church is on fire!” the caller said.
Gephart responded, “No, the church can’t be on fire, I was just there!”
He raced to the church and found that it was in flames.
“That night was rough,” Gephart says. Firefighters arrived and began working on the building. Gephart was struck by what he noticed in the chaos of that night. “The one thing that was evident right away is, people were praying. Praying for the firefighters, praying for everybody; and we didn’t know what was going to happen next for a while. But we knew God was with us.”
After the chaos of that night and through the past two years, the community and congregation of Christ UMC worked to rebuild. Jaime Carpenter is Christ United Methodist’s Director of Lay Ministries. She has been with the church for 13 years and says that the fire, in a certain way, helped propel them into action. “We were all part of the dream and the vision to build a new church. To buy the property, and then to construct the outdoor worship center. But we never would have expected that a fire would be what propelled us to really get serious about moving forward.”
The construction process brought together volunteers from across the congregation and the community. “Every time I think of this place, I can’t help but see hundreds of people who labored here.” And even on Sunday mornings when Gephart leads worship services, he feels a special connection to all those who helped.
“What I always remember when I walk up here to preach — and this is the neat thing — is that, through the dedicated people in this church, there were Volunteers in Mission who came from all over the country and they built this stage … that’s what sticks in my mind. This is a labor of love for God.”
That process of moving forward brought the congregation to November 19, 2017, when their new building was consecrated by Bishop Jeremiah J. Park.
Hundreds of worshippers attended the rededication service, which set Christ United Methodist Church on a new path forward.
As Carpenter says, “I would like to say it’s a completion of a vision, but I feel like we are only getting started. So, I think as the church grows and as we are gaining hearts and we’re making disciples of Jesus Christ, I think there’s a possibility we could even go more from here. Build more. And whether it’s through the building, or it’s through just building systems in the community to help people, so they can hear the hope of Jesus Christ.”
