Yesterday morning there was a serious fire at the Falls Church Presbyterian Church on Broad St. in Falls Church. Flames leapt from the trashcans between the buildings into the building itself and the church was nearly lost. The FCFD were amazing in their response and saved the church from what would be a fiery destruction. The choir room was a total loss, including the piano, and the back stair will need to be entirely refurbished.
Church met this morning in the Falls Church Community Center, on a gym floor with the baskets raised, and never have I seen a tighter community. They had received offers from Dulin Methodist, Presbyterian and several other faith communities nearby to help host a service, and that warmed a lot of peoples’ hearts this morning as we all sat in the gym, working with an electric piano and an altar that folded up and went back beneath the bleachers when we left.
We collapsed the piano, we folded up the chairs and stacked them, and got the facility ready for the 11:30 basketball game.
I saw wet eyes today, but I saw more hope and adaptability and perspective than I’d seen recently. Pitched during the sermon today, and in the bulletin, is a mission trip to New Orleans to help them rebuild, and Pastor Tom Schmid reminded us how lucky we were to have only lost a choir room.
We are, however, looking for a choir room in Falls Church or Arlington, with a piano, for rehearsal this week, and maybe next. If you know of any, please let me know.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
