Rev. Erin Todd of Grace United Church says the last couple of months have been the most challenging of her career.
In July, the nearly 80-year-old Minnow Lake church burned down after being struck by lightning. It has been a stressful time for the congregation, although it emphasized that a church is the people, not the building.
“They certainly don't train you for this in ministry school,” the church's minister said. “There's a lot of work when your church burns down.”
The Minnow Lake/New Sudbury Co-operative Nursery School, which was located in the church, also lost its home when the church burned.
It turns out both Grace United Church and the nursery school found a common temporary home — at nearby Minnow Lake Place.
Church services are being held at 10:30 a.m. every Sunday in the city-owned facility's gym. The nursery school has set up in a classroom at Minnow Lake Place, which is a former school.
“We booked it for two years hoping we don't need it for two years,” said Todd. “It's really great because it's a consistent place, and so everybody is just in the routine of coming there for church.”
Until recently, Grace United Church was known as St. Luke's United Church.
The congregations of St. Luke's and Trinity United Church in Garson amalgamated in 2018, and made the former St. Luke's building their home.
Unfortunately, Trinity United Church has been sold and is now a private residence, so it couldn't be used for services. “Three years ago we had two buildings, and now we have no buildings,” Todd said.
Congregants decided to use the insurance money to rebuild on the burned building's footprint. Essentially the same church will be rebuilt, but following today's building codes.
Todd won't venture a guess as to how exactly long that will take, but it will definitely be a year or more — the contract still needs to go out to tender.
A lot was lost in the fire, but several items were salvaged, including a fire-proof safe containing the church's historic records, including births, deaths and marriages. Two charred crosses and a valuable painting by an Indigenous artist also survived.
While Minnow Lake Place is being used for worship, St. Peter's United Church has given Todd office space.
Bancroft Drive Community Church is providing a venue for choir practices and fundraisers — if you'd like to support Grace United, Todd suggests attending the church's upcoming Christmas Luncheon and Bazaar on Nov. 2.
Todd said she wants to thank the Greater Sudbury community for their support. “It's very heartening in a stressful time to know people are really supportive of us,” she said.
While Minnow Lake/New Sudbury Co-operative Nursery School was on its summer break when the fire broke out, it lost all of its materials, which were stored in the church.
Jennifer Larche, the nursery school's educator, spent the summer scrambling to find a new space and equipment for the program.
“We were completely devastated because nothing was salvageable,” she said. “We pretty much had to start from the ground up.”
The nursery school, a morning educational program for almost 30 toddlers and preschoolers where parents play an active role, found a new home at Minnow Lake Place.
The space meets government requirements for licensed child care. But unfortunately, the rent is almost triple.
“Our fundraising this year will be really important,” Larche said.
Larche, like Rev. Todd (who, by the way, said she'd love to have the nursery school back once the church is rebuilt), wants to thank the community for their help in the wake of the fire.
Because they needed to replace all of their materials, she received donations from businesses (including Bay Used Books, which donated books for the kids), other daycares and families.
“We've all worked so hard together to get it up and running again,” Larche said. “It was a pretty stressful, busy summer, but it's been all worth it to see the new space and the kids happy and having fun and learning.”
Molly O'Neill, whose three-year-old daughter Hope attends the nursery school two mornings a week, said she was “pretty shocked” when she heard Grace United Church had burned down.
She said Hope “just loves coming” to the nursery school. “I was concerned we weren't going to find a place in time,” O'Neill said. “I'm really happy we were able to get in here, and in time to start the season.”
