Members of the Fellowship Alliance Chapel in Medford, New Jersey, praised God Sunday in defiance of what they see as a plan by the devil to stop their worship less than 48 hours after their church was struck by lightning that sparked a blaze that damaged a portion of their roof.
“The enemy had plans to stop our worship of our Lord and Savior this morning, but praise God, we are here,” Dave Gutekunst, chairman of the elder board at Fellowship Alliance Chapel, told CBS News Sunday.
In a statement on Facebook Friday, Fellowship Alliance Chapel said a section of the worship center’s roof caught fire after it was struck by lightning during a severe thunderstorm. The fire required collective action from nine fire departments, which they said “responded quickly and effectively … to gain control of the fire before” it damaged other parts of the building.
“Thankfully, nobody was in the building at the time, so nobody was hurt,” the church stated.
In a follow-up statement on July 4, church officials noted that almost 400 personnel from five counties armed with 70 pieces of firefighting equipment responded to the blaze caused by lightning.
“It never infiltrated the building. While there is extensive smoke and water damage throughout the building, remediation is already underway,” church officials said as they thanked members of their community who showed up to “support and encourage.”
“God has called us through this as a family, and He will sustain us. Now’s the time to ‘lean in’ to encourage one another and remind each other of His faithfulness throughout the coming weeks as we work through the remediation process,” the church continued in the statement.
“We will continue to assess and respond to the needs of our church family throughout this season….’ Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you,’” the statement ended, citing 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
Gutekunst told CBS News that he wasn’t yet sure how long it would take to fix the fire damage. He also noted that even though the damage felt like a gut punch, he knows God has a plan.
“It’s going to be an extensive cleanup process,” he said. “Right away, we knew, you know, God still got a plan. All of God’s plan is good, and we have to trust in his plan.’
The elder board’s chairman, who was so grateful that the congregation could gather for worship service on Sunday, further stated, “Words can’t even describe the emotions right now that we are here still holding church today.”
Church member Paul Casdia agreed.
“It felt like a small miracle,” he said. “It seemed so unlikely we would have church this morning. It was emotional.”
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