"I'm a little numb," Doris Roberts said yesterday as she and a handful of other church members sadly surveyed the damage. "This is our church. This is our refuge."
About a dozen women were in the basement after a meeting when the fire started upstairs shortly before 10 p.m. It began in some greenery around the pulpit, Berea Fire Chief Randy Rigsby said, though the exact cause was not known.
Everyone escaped unharmed and the fire was quickly controlled.
Except for scorch marks on the front door, there was little evidence on the outside that there had been a fire. But the sanctuary was badly burned; Rigsby estimated the damage at $200,000. The building was insured, and the fire was not considered suspicious.
The church averages about 200 worshipers on a Sunday and has outgrown its building on U.S. 25. Plans to build a bigger church on Ky. 21 await approval by Berea's city government.
Now, pastor Steve Hobbs said, the biggest problem is uncertainty: "What do we do next? How are we going to keep the flock together?"
Hobbs said four churches had offered to share their buildings. Church members were to meet last night to figure out where Sunday services would be held.
