THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210330
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GRANDY LENGTH: 96 lines
Members of Grandy Assembly of God had just celebrated a successful fund-raiser for a third building expansion when their church burned to the ground early Monday.
It was the second church in Currituck County to be destroyed by fire in as many weeks. Moyock Baptist Church was struck by lightening exactly two weeks ago.
``A lot of people were talking about that as they watched the fire,'' the church's pastor, Douglas Harn, said by telephone Monday. ``They were saying, `Was God trying to get our attention? Or is the devil?' ''
No one was injured in the fire, which occurred around 1:30 a.m., said Stanley Griggs, the fire chief at the Lower Currituck Volunteer Fire Department.
The blaze is believed to have begun near the front of the church, where offices and the sanctuary entrance were located, Griggs said.
What little remained of the only section still standing - the fellowship hall - was still smoldering in places.
While Harn went home to gather some paperwork for an insurance adjuster, parishioners and members of the church's Christian school spent the morning trying to salvage school supplies from the rubble.
Church members wiped soot off Bibles and book covers and laid waterlogged texts on picnic tables to dry. The air had the strong odor of burnt wood and ash as they worked.
``I'm just glad it happened at night because, with where my office is located, if it had been during the day, I wouldn't have been able to get out,'' Harn said.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation. Several church leaders at the scene said an electricalshortage in the attic may have been responsible.
``Somebody passing by happened to see some smoke in the area and went around to investigate,'' said Griggs.
The fire station is less than a quarter-mile away, and firefighters responded within minutes, but flames already were shooting through the roof of the building on McHorney Road, Griggs said.
The white vinyl-sided church of about 11,000 square feet, is located just off U.S. 158 West, behind The Plantation Gift Shop.
Between 25 and 30 firefighters from Lower Currituck, Crawford Township and Corolla fire stations battled the flames that consumed the T-shaped church within a couple of hours, Griggs said.
The church was founded in 1954 in nearby Poplar Branch. The original building, about the size of a doublewide trailer, was moved to its current site in 1988.
A new sanctuary that seated 275 was added in 1989. The church, which averages 240 weekly worshipers, built a fellowship hall in 1991. Almost two years ago, the church started a Christian school for grades K through 12. Forty-five students currently enrolled should learn by midweek when and where classes will resume.
Another 6,000-square-foot expansion that would more than double the size of the sanctuary was just getting off the ground when the fire struck.
The church already had invested $120,000 toward the $300,000 project, said assistant pastor Ken Durham.
On Saturday, a festival featuring barbecue plates, gospel singing and kiddie horse rides raised $8,400 for the new section. The money was kept in a safe that survived the disaster.
``This doesn't stop anything,'' said Bill Wilkins, an assistant pastor whose just-written book on hospital ministry was lost in the blaze. Fortunately, Wilkins kept a copy at home.
``I see the glory of God out of it,'' Wilkins said. ``I believe this is going to draw the people closer together, and I believe when we rebuild, great things are going to come out of this.''
Others at the scene also displayed the same optimism. One reason, some said, may be because of a recent two-week, 24-hour prayer session where someone was in the sanctuary praying every minute of the day. ``I think maybe God was preparing us for this,'' said Bob Savoie, a teacher at the church.
In Savoie's hands was a slightly burned copy of ``The Riverside Shakespeare'' that Savoie, who teaches English, Bible and French, had annotated through the years.
``I didn't lose the one possession in that school that I really valued, as far as material things are concerned,'' he said.
Harn, however, was less fortunate.
The minister lost his collection of old Bibles and a complete series of Sunday school textbooks from 1934 through 1968, among other personal items.
Perhaps most missed was a box that Harn had brought from home to search for some items to use in an upcoming sermon.
Also in the box were the only wedding photos of he and his wife, Debra, who have been married for 26 years.
Despite the personal loss, Harn, like the others, focused on the days ahead.
A special service was held late Monday afternoon under a tent.
``We might have lost the building,'' Harn said, ``but we haven't lost the church.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by DREW C. WILSON, The Virginian-Pilot
Second Currituck County church burns down
After the Grandy Assembly of God burned early Monday, members of the
congregation - from left, Nancy Curtis, Johnna Keane and Cheryl
Richardson - try to salvage educational materials from the rubble.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation. by CNB