Community Reaches Out To Help Westport's Saugatuck Congregational Church

Although the 180-year-old church was , many folks believe the Westport community will reach out and help in various ways until the church is reopened.

“Westport is the kind of community that reaches out to help each other,” said Craig Matheson, a deacon at for 50 years. “I know there will be a community feeling to help us.”

Several venues were offered up to host the annual Saugatuck Congregational Church Thanksgiving Feast, which usually feeds more than 300 people, but church members decided to have it at at 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Matheson, who has lived in Westport for more than 50 years, called the feast a major event in the life of the church and said everybody in the community is invited.

Sara Walsh, a member of Saugatuck Congregational Church, explained the church’s history of community outreach, noting they feed about 700 people between the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts.

“This is going to impact a lot of people in the community,” Matheson said, alluding to the many ways the building is utilized. “It is going to be a long time before they can worship here.”

Matheson believes the inability to use the church will impact parishioners, children who used the day care facility and folks who rely on the many 12 Step Group’s that meet more than 100 times a week. Although the church has not been totally lost, Matheson says, many repairs and replacements will need to be made including the roof and carpeting.

“Fortunately the fire was contained in the rear of the building and the sanctuary was not engulfed in flames, but there is considerate water and smoke damage to the sanctuary,” Matheson said.

Reverend Sarah Verasco, the Fairfield County Regional Minister for the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC), said Saugatuck Congregational Church will have the support from UCC churches in Fairfield County and all over Connecticut as well as the Westport Clergy Association.

“There will be support that comes from the whole country, I’m confident,” Verasco added. “This church is so much more than its building.”

Heather A. Hamilton, director of music at Saugatuck Congregational Church, said the outreach from those offering assistance has been “phenomenal.” Though Hamilton was unsure of the losses, she fears the church’s music library, which is more than 100 years old, might have been destroyed.

Westport Deputy Fire Chief Jonathan Gottfried said Monday afternoon state and local fire marshals were investigating the scene and that he is unsure of how long the investigation would last.

“It could be an hour or it could be two days,” Gottfried said.

“It is amazing that the church is standing right now,” Gottfried added, noting the poor history of saving churches from fires nation wide. “It is a testament to all of the guys who helped.”

All of the folks gathered in front of the church Monday were thankful the building is still standing. Matheson believes that without firewalls, which were installed during the recent renovation of the building, the church would have been lost.

John Walsh, the Chair of Trustees at Saugatuck Congregational Church indicated the church’s insurance provider sent a team to Westport Monday.

“We are working with them right now in terms of ‘what’s got to be done,” Walsh said.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.