Natalie Bankmann reported this story on assignment from The White River Valley Herald. The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost.
On April 26, 2021, Alvin Avery watched as the church his family attended since 1953 burned to the ground, flames engulfing the building where they spent weekly Sunday school, Easter services and nearly every significant event and holiday.
Almost three years later, that building no longer exists, but the Williamstown United Church remains alive and well. Its congregation has sustained hope through many hurdles — beyond that fateful fire. The church’s 50 or so members have survived Covid-19 closure, a new pastor after the previous pastor retired and severe flooding in July that damaged neighboring buildings and got into the church’s basement. Yet, Avery has kept faith in the church’s resilience and the sense of community it provides.
A few relics from the church survived, as well. Its Paul Revere bell and one of three faces of a clock that chimed on the hour from the old church’s tower were salvaged from the fire. Church members are now building a structure on the site of the burned building so these emblems can once again watch over the town.
On the Sunday after the fire, the congregation returned to the pews, brushing off the dust to take seats in a nearby church that had been abandoned three years earlier. “If our church was going to survive, we had to open, so we did,” said Avery, a member of the church’s board.
As luck would have it, Williamstown Church owned the empty church and decided to revitalize it instead of trying to resurrect the heavily damaged building. Insurance wouldn’t fully cover the cost of rebuilding, according to the church’s pastor, Norma Stridsberg
Still, the transition wasn’t easy. Williamstown United Church was beloved not only by those who regularly worshipped there but by others in the community who had attended funerals and other events there. Especially after the difficulties of the pandemic, the loss of the church hit people hard, Avery said.
Despite the challenges, the fire had a silver lining: It brought the community together, Stridsberg said. “It gave the people a purpose,” she said.
It also helped the church centralize its finances into one building that supports its development, Stridsberg added.
Those who helped clean up after the fire salvaged several paintings, tables and kitchen supplies from the ashes of the old church. In the days afterward, they freshened up the adjacent church building and brought the saved items to the new quarters.
“We had people in their 70s and 80s helping carry stuff,” Avery recalled. “Everyone was doing all they could.”
The cause of the fire remains a mystery. Three investigators spent almost 20 hours after the event searching for the source. They found that the fire began in the middle of a wall 20 inches thick, nowhere near any sort of wire or gas that could have caught flame.
The new church boasts newly painted floors, stained glass windows stretching above eye level to catch the sunlight, and high ceilings refurbished in a fresh light-green color. A room in the back holds mementos from the old church, including a collection of gold-framed paintings that were saved from the fire.
During the revitalization process, volunteer workers discovered an old time capsule from 1909 under the floorboards of the stage. A note in the time capsule explained that the time capsule was placed when the windows of the new church were installed. It held a collection of notes and images from churchgoers in the early 20th century. The time capsule is currently on display in the church.
A local contractor cleared out the debris on the property of the old church, which the congregation still owns. On the site, church members are building a structure that’s 12 feet long and about 24 feet high to place the Revere bell and clock, which previously overlooked Williamstown’s Main Street from the 80-foot church tower.
“The town really misses its clock,” Avery said.
The bell is currently in Connecticut getting restored, and the structure, which will look like an enclosed tower with windows, should be finished this spring. The church community plans to place kiosks explaining the history of the clock and the bell. Two large window frames which were saved from the fire as well as a large glass door will be part of the structure.
Earlier this month, the new church flung open its doors to an eager community to host a coffee house concert and a lasagna dinner. It will soon hold Easter services, giving Avery and the rest of the Williamstown congregation a chance to start making memories in a new location.