Tragedy on Palm Sunday

As part of the ongoing preservation of the church, an annual Spring work day was set up for Saturday, March 18, 1989. As was the custom in the church, a work party of 20 to 30 people was held to clean up the building and grounds just prior to Easter Sunday. Weeds were cut, lawns mowed, flowerbeds weeded and trimmed and the parking area cleaned. Inside the building others were cleaning, dusting, washing windows and sprucing up the various rooms for the coming holiday. Several truck loads of garden trimmings and trash were hauled to the dump.

Unfortunately, none of the long-range planning could have prepared the congregation for what happened next. Early in the evening of Sunday, March 19, the beloved old carriage house caught fire. Oil- and turpentine-soaked rags used to polish the huge old hinges, walls and doors spontaneously combusted in a garbage can, quickly engulfing the building and all of its contents.

According to Valley of the Moon Fire Chief Bob Bettencourt, the combination of the lacquer surfaces and linseed oil created a fire so hot and fast that nothing could be done to stop it. Additionally, the old-fashioned hay chutes inside the converted horse stalls helped move the fire to the former second story hay loft rapidly.

Among the contents destroyed were the choir director’s $75,000 Steinway grand concert piano as well as a new $20,000 electric organ. Antique pews, salvaged from Our Lady’s Home Catholic retirement home were consumed by the fire and the bell brought from the old Fulton church melted. Of particular note was the loss of both the pastor’s robes, never before worn together during one worship service.

One of the only items to survive the fire was the large, handmade, walnut-on-oak Celtic cross fixed on the outside of the church. While the rest of the building roared in flames, the cross stood intact, attached to the only wall left standing. Despite orders not to go inside the burning building, a group of firemen, led by congregation member and firefighter Tom Shearer, rushed to the cross and dragged it out as its supporting wall collapsed.

Laughter and Tears Beside the Ashes

When asked for comment, pastor Rich Gantenbein summed up the fire with these words, “We must recognize that a church is not a building. We will pull together, we will make it together. That is the only way.”

Another St. Andrew board member, Donna Gordon, was also philosophical about the loss saying, “It’s all in God’s plan somewhere. It was a wonderful building but it’s not the church. We are the church. They can’t take that away from us.”

With that, St. Andrew picked itself up and continued on, holding Easter services as planned but with a twist – outside in the parking lot.

As luck would have it, there was something else left in the ashes, Rev. Gantenbein told the congregation and other well wishers gathered for Easter services. Two parishioners sifting through the rubble turned up a signed but intact sheet of choir music by the Van Trapp family. The title of the piece Gantenbein held in his hand for all to see was “Bring Your Torches.”

When the ensuing laughter died down Gantenbein reminded the nearly 200 present to, “always keep a sense of humor, even in the midst of tears.” He also urged his congregation to see a new opportunity in the ashes and to participate in the rebuilding of the church.

During the remainder of the Easter service Gantenbein made a direct correlation between the resurrection of Christ and the rebuilding of the church stating, “Christ was resurrected through the power of God. In looking to God, we will participate in the resurrection. It is ultimately a faith issue.”

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