Fire left little of the Garrattsville United Methodist Church building on Sunday.
But members were praying Monday, planning for services and looking for ``hope coming from the ashes,'' said Harriet Collison, lay leader and chairwoman of the administrative council.
Collison, her husband, Don, and Richard Anderson, former pastor of the Garrattsville congregation, met with the Rev. David D. Masland, district superintendent of the Binghamton District of the Wyoming Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
``We were advised not to rush into anything,'' Harriet Collison said, and rebuilding the church is unlikely.
``It was an old country church,'' she said.
Records saved indicate the church was built in 1840, officials said, and the fire started at an electrical breaker panel.
Other items saved included a triptych with a painting of Christ, candlesticks, the altar and crosses, but whether the church's dozen pews could be saved wasn't clear, she said. A triptych is a three-paneled painting.
Ten to 20 people attended each Sunday, officials said, but a tally on members wasn't available.
Collison said there will be a service Sunday at a site to be determined, and Sheree Acre, the church's certified lay speaker, said she will lead the service.
Anderson said Methodist churches in Morris, Burlington Flats, West Exeter, Hartwick and Mount Vision have offered to help. Also, the Presbyterian church in Garrattsville has extended an invitation to services or use of the building, he said, and the Burlington Green Baptist Church also has offered assistance.
Anderson, a volunteer firefighter with the New Berlin Fire Department for 30 years, said the fire was reported at 5:40 a.m. Sunday by the church's caretaker, who lives across the street from the building.
Anderson, who was at home Sunday morning, said he heard the Garrattsville fire crews toned out and called Acre, who went to be with the congregation.
Anderson, pastor at the Garrattsville church from 2003 to 2005, said he felt ``immediate sadness'' when he heard the church was ablaze.
``I wanted to be there in the worst way,'' he said. But he had to meet pastoral duties with his current congregations in North Norwich, Preston and Plymouth.
On Monday, Acre wasn't able to be with Garrattsville congregants, Anderson said, and he has offered to help in her stead. The Garrattsville church was a wonderful place to conduct services, he said, citing an instance when the light came through the windows and formed images of the cross.
``It was holy ground,'' Anderson said.
Acre conducted the service Sunday in the fire department's pavilion, he said.
The fire had a good head start before crews arrived and it spread up the bell tower and along the roof, said Lyle ``Butch'' Jones, Otsego County emergency services coordinator.
``Garrattsville did a fantastic job with what they were confronted with,'' Jones said.
The fire started in the electrical distribution system, which was old, Jones said. The site also showed signs of ``rodent activity,'' and a dead red squirrel was found, he said.
Jones estimated the structural loss at several hundred-thousand dollars, but he couldn't put a price on the historical loss. He said the church building was a ``total loss'' and reconstruction would be prohibitively expensive.
The congregation is small but big at heart, Acre said, and no matter which option the members choose, the mission of the church will continue.
``It will be where God calls us to be,'' Acre said. ``The important thing to remember is the church is not the building _ the church is the people."
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