The Church of God in Nappanee catches fire during Sunday School

NAPPANEE, Ind. (WNDU) - The fire at The Church of God in Nappanee is still under investigation, but Pastor Sam Bennett is trying to stay positive following the devastation to his church.

“The one side is that I’m sad that it happened, and the other side is that, I’m extremely thankful that no one was hurt.” Sam Bennett, Church of God Pastor, said.

Pastor Bennett was in the middle of teaching his Sunday School class when he was made aware of the incident.

“30 seconds later there was smoke, one of the ladies came into our class and said the building’s on fire,” said Bennett.

Fortunately, no one inside the building at the time of the fire was hurt and everyone was able to evacuate safely.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, but the building still suffered extensive damage.

“Protocol is it’s a church fire, there’s structural damage done to it, so uh the State Fire Marshall’s been called and they are currently doing the investigation,” said Don Lehman, the Nappanee Fire Chief.

The Bennett’s have been with the church for 20 years and now they and other members look forward to rebuilding the church with the help and support of the community.

“God works all things together for good, so we know he will,” said Diane Bennett.

Fire officials say that they do not believe this fire to have any connection with the other fires that have occurred in Elkhart county recently, but we will continue to update you as more information develops.

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