SELINSGROVE -- On the day after an 85-year-old church was heavily damaged by smoke and flames, its members are wondering what's next.
Members held a prayer service Tuesday morning in the parking lot of Christ United Methodist Church in Selinsgrove.
A state police fire marshal said it was an electrical fire that started in the church's break room. He also said the fire was an accident. Still, that's not much relief to church members who call the fire devastating.
Some of the 300 plus members of Christ United Methodist Church stood in a circle Tuesday morning, holding hands, and praying for the future of their church. They thanked firefighters and sang songs.
"That's what we know to do best is just to pray and we know because the resurrection of Christ that our worst days are never the last days. So we have that hope," said Pastor Ryan Gephart.
The pastor was at the church about one hour before the fire started around 10 p.m. Monday.
"Just shock," said Gephart. "And I drove down and there was smoke coming out of the belfry and some firefighters were already here."
Church members comforted each other during what they call a tragedy.
"Devastated and just sort of sad to think that we can't go back in there and worship anymore," said church member Carol Norman.
Some members tell Newswatch 16 as devastating as this is, that is just a building and they themselves represent the church.
"I've been coming to this church since I was a young teenager, but even before that my family was coming. This is where my kids were baptized," said Amanda Friend. "This was really nice that we could all come together and pray and throw some of our thoughts out there and be with each other."
The pastor says the church is about 85 years old. The church was planning to rebuild on land it owns nearby, but the pastor says it is too early to make a decision on the future of this building.
For now, services will be held on the other property just off Route 522.
"We have a wonderful outdoor worship center up on the hill and we might be using that a lot this summer," said Marrianne Hoyt.
Church members were able to recover a children's bible from inside the church, and while it has a lot of smoke and water damage, the inside of the bible is still intact, and all the words can still be clearly read.
"We'll see where God leads us next and we just thank everybody in the community for praying and for loving us and for all the outreach of support," Pastor Gephart added.
There is a preschool at Christ United Methodist Church. The pastor says classes were canceled for the rest of the week while they decide on a temporary location for the preschool. He says so far, five churches reached out to him about hosting the school.