Rebuilding Begins For Montclair Church After Devastating Fire

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair community is pulling together to help a church congregation after a devastating fire broke out at their house of worship.

A three-alarm fire caused "extensive damage" to Grace Presbyterian Church on Tuesday morning. Four firefighters received minor injuries and were treated and released from the hospital. No one was inside the church at that time, authorities said. Read More: 4 Montclair Firefighters Hurt Battling Church Fire (UPDATED)

The church serves a congregation of more than 500 people in Montclair and other parts of northern New Jersey.

Grace Presbyterian Church posted a message about the fire on Thursday:

“By now many of our friends on Facebook and Instagram have seen the photos and the news videos of the fire at Grace, which heavily damaged the sanctuary and fellowship hall buildings on August 15. We will use social media and email to keep our community informed of plans for continuing our worship services. If you would like to receive our email updates, go to gracemontclair.org/signup/. Meanwhile, please pray for Grace Church, and especially church leadership, as we seek God's guidance in the days and weeks ahead. Thank you!”

According to updates from church leaders, an “outpouring of encouragement and support” has come from the community since the devastating blaze.

“Maybe the most inspiring example is the group of our own Sunday School children, who heard about the fire and decided to organize a lemonade stand that very afternoon,” the church reported, adding that the effort raised $600 that will be put towards the rebuilding effort.

The church is accepting online donations at its website.

The town council took a pause to wish the church community success with the recovery effort at their meeting on Tuesday (watch the video below).

“Certainly, our thoughts are with everybody there, and [we] hope that the congregation and everyone [will be] able to rebuild and come back in a strong way,” Mayor Sean Spiller said.

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