Demolition begins for Nappanee church destroyed in fire

NAPPANEE, Ind. (WNDU) - The Nappanee community is coming together to help a church that burned down several months ago.

First Church of God began demolition Wednesday afternoon, as they start rebuilding the church from the ground up.

Pastor Sam Bennett said it is a new beginning.

“The demolition start is awesome because it is the new beginning. It is going to be great to see the burnt building gone...I’m sure for a lot of people it is sad to see it go down; but on the other hand it’s not going to compare to what’s going to rise up,” said Bennett.

Last September, the church caught on fire while Bennett was teaching Sunday school.

The pastor said the fire started in the furnace and spread quickly.

Thankfully, everyone got out and no one was seriously injured.

Despite challenging times, Bennett has remained optimistic.

“It’s been really good, even through the challenges. I can say God has been at work and we are really excited about that because the church isn’t about the building. Church is about the people...Our design is going to be around a gathering space where we can all come together and gather. And that’s going to feed off our worship space, so we are going to get a whole new worship space. We are going to have a multi-purpose space and a fellowship space,” Bennett said

Bennett said he is excited to see what God is going to do in the next chapter.

They hope to break ground in April and expect the new building to be finished by next January.

Meantime, The Family Christian Development Center is offering space to hold church services.

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