Published October 24, 2019
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — One year almost to the minute after lightning struck the First Baptist Church and caused a devastating fire that destroyed the church and the Tall Spire Nursery School that was housed in the church, the community gathered last night at the site on the corner of Lafayette and Common streets to mark the first anniversary of the fire and to look toward the future.
The congregation has decided that it will rebuild on the site.
The large crowd at last night’s prayer service included church congregants, teachers and students from the Tall Spire Nursery School, Wakefield firefighters and police officers, Wakefield clergy, town officials and members of the community.
Church Moderator Melinda Parry served as master of ceremonies for last night’s service.
As chimes from the First Parish Congregational Church rang in the background, Marsha Carter read a letter from interim Pastor Norman Bendroth who was out of town teaching a class and unable to attend last night’s service.
FIRE CHIEF MICHAEL SULLIVAN, Wakefield resident Lisa Mansour and Police Chief Steven Skory at last night’s prayer service marking the one-year anniversary of the fire that destroyed the 150-year-old First Baptist Church. (Mark Sardella Photo)
Rev. Bendroth recalled receiving a phone call on that night one year ago informing him of the fire. As he made his way to the site that night, he recalled that the steeple was “roaring like a torch and the roof had collapsed.” The following Sunday, he preached to the congregation that “God will bring beauty from the ashes.”
Parry introduced Rev. Glenn Mortimer, co-chair of the Wakefield Interfaith Clergy Association, who offered the call to prayer. Reverend Nathaniel Gaye, a member of the First Baptist congregation, then offered the invocation.
Parry called on Elaine Pappas to read from Scripture. She read a passage from Isaiah Chapter 61 that speaks of “rebuilding ancient ruins” and restoring “places long devastated.”
Parry acknowledged that it was not just the church congregation that lost a building, but that the presence of the church touched the whole community. She asked Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio to share some of his thoughts.
Maio recalled rushing to the site after receiving a text at home. By the time he reached Cordis Street by the Lake, he could see the flames. He remembered standing on the steps of Town Hall as the steeple came straight down, thankfully causing no injury or damage to other buildings. He remembered flames in the shape of a cross glowing for hours on the side of the church.
“We are here as a town to stand with you,” he told the church community, and predicted that the brightness and spirit that the church represented “will shine and go all the way to the sky like it did before.”
Town Council Chairman Edward Dombroski called the First Baptist Church “an iconic structure that defined our idyllic small-town skyline.”
In the wake of tragedy, he recalled, the generosity of Wakefield shone though as supplies were donated and space was offered to Tall Spire for classes and to the church for worship.
“We share this loss with you,” Dombroski said. “In rebuilding this church, you will also be helping to rebuild the spirit of this beautiful community.”
Speaking on behalf of the Wakefield Interfaith Clergy Association, Rev. Mortimer thanked all the first responders who answered the call a year ago.
“Out of the ashes rises hope,” he said. “We knew that there was hope, and there was life and there was love that would rise from the ashes.”
Parry introduced Kathy Relihan, director of the tall Spire Nursery School, who was joined last night by the founders of the school, Joan Chetwynd and Bunny Gates. Relihan noted that Tall Spire had been housed in the church for over 50 years. She, too, thanked the firefighters for there efforts a year ago.
“There was loss of a building, there was loss of church and there was the loss of a school,” she said. “But there was no loss of life. We are very grateful for that.”
Parry recalled that she had grown up in the First Baptist Church from age 7, had been baptized and married there and had buried her parents from the church. Although the loss was great, she said, the congregation was buoyed by the outpouring from the community after the fire.
“We have committed to rebuild on this site,” she said, “and to use this site in the meantime as a way of blessing the community. We are deeply grateful to all who labored that night and to all who responded so generously afterward.”
