The River Church Fire of 2008

October 30 of 2008 became a day of unexpected adversity for our Christian brothers and sisters of the River Church, now known as Changepoint Church. At approximately 3:00 in the afternoon, workers involved in renovation work within the River Church's 117-year-old building detected a fire. While everyone was evacuated from the building and no injuries occurred, the fire quickly spread to consume the auditorium, the parsonage building, and the belltower.

Thankfully, no one was caught in the blaze or injured as a result of it. However, the incident destroyed the main building of the River Church and left our neighboring congregation without a place to worship.

While he was watching the flames consume his church's worship space, Reverend Marlow Dunham of the River Church knew he needed to be prepared to notify all his parishioners of the fire immediately and to tell them, as well as the Poughkeepsie Journal, where the River Church would now meet for worship. Pastor Dunham's instinct was to contact his colleague in ministry and his friend, Pastor Bob of our Reformed Church to ask if his congregation could worship in the Reformed Church that coming Sunday.

Pastor Marlow called Pastor Bob's cell phone and had his answer instantly. Pastor Bob and his wife, Cherrill, went immediately to Pastor Marlow's side at the burning church. Within hours, preparations were underway to make space available in Case Chapel for the River Church to use for Sunday worship services.

Based only on outward appearances, it may seem that our two churches are somewhat dissimilar. Yet, both share similarities beyond their geographic proximity. The Reformed Church partners with the River Church in the Poughkeepsie Adopt-A-Block program, where our own Linda Sandberg serves on the board of directors. Together, both congregations work through this program to improve the community and demonstrate the love of God as taught to us through Jesus Christ.

For what seems certain to be at least the remaining months of 2008 and the first months of 2009 (there are so many options to consider and decisions to be made), the River Church congregation will be worshiping upstairs in Case Chapel. The River Church's worship service begins at 12:00 noon; the Reformed Church's worship begins, as always, at 10:00 a.m.

It may sound like a cliché, but what appears to begin in tragedy often yields unexpected blessings. In the time since the River Church has taken up temporary residence in our building, we have come to know them better and to see more clearly that any apparent difference we have are largely cosmetic. While our congregations may express their faith in differing fashion, there is no doubt that both congregations share the same core belief, and both congregations see themselves as Christ's hands and feet in the world.

During the time that both our congregations are sharing the use of our building, there will undoubtedly be unforeseen complications and minor inconveniences. However, if our first few experiences with their congregation have demonstrated anything, it has shown the River Church congregation to be very courteous and grateful, worried about being good temporary tenants just as much as we are worried about being good hosts. Whatever complications might arise, we are confident that we will be able to work together to make our shared time together not only a pleasant one, but one in which our congregations may look back upon a generation from now as the starting point of a closer friendship and a more integrated community ministry.

We are blessed by their presence, humbled that they thought to contact us for help, and grateful that we were able to extend to them a helping hand when they found themselves in need. May God grant that we find that we have such good friends if we ever find ourselves in the same situation.

Excerpt from "The Companion EXTRA!", November 2008, by Pastor Geehan

As of November 16, city fire officials believed that the fire was caused by a dehumidifier in the River Church building's basement. The River Church's insurance company currently has the remains of the dehumidifier and are examining it to make a final determination. The administrative offices and the education space at the River Church site survived the fire mostly intact. Those buildings have been cleaned and are being prepared to be returned to use. However, neither of these has sufficient space for the River Church to use for Sunday worship services.

Each Sunday, the River Church uses our Case Chapel and four of our Sunday School rooms in the Education Wing, as well as our Nursery from about 11:45 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. During the week, the River Church makes use of Case Chapel on Tuesday evenings for rehearsals. They also make use of our building occasionally on Fridays, but this varies based on their needs and space availability.

The Consistory of the Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie met on November 10. Those members in attendance voted to support Pastor Bob's invitation to the River Church. Elder Steve Wing was nominated to attend to the legal and insurance issues involved. Pastor Bob was tasked with preparing a draft of a "letter of welcome" for the Consistory to send to the River Church.

Deacon Linda Sandberg was asked by the Consistory to be the Reformed Church's official contact to the the River Church. To try and minimize the number of people trying to chase down the Pastor Marlow and the River Church Elders, all requests will be made through Linda. River Church Elder Jeff Danielson is Linda's counterpart. Together, they will make sure that all requests are in line with the administrations of both churches before they are passed on for action. If there is something that you feel needs to be brought to the attention of the River Church, please contact Linda.

Case Chapel, Prepared for River Church Sunday Service