EDMONTON- A church in Morinville has been destroyed, after an early morning fire tore through the building.
Fire crews and RCMP were called to St. Andrew’s Anglican Church around 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
“Some witnesses had heard two explosions,” explained Constable Tyson Sergent with Morinville RCMP.
Crews were able to contain the blaze to the one structure, however the building is a complete loss.
Ron Horst, the Rector of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, arrived on scene early Sunday morning, to survey the damage.
“I feel okay. I suppose I have a bit of shock. I certainly am sad for all the loss.”
Horst is thankful nobody was injured in the blaze and says he was able to salvage pictures and church records from the rubble.
Normally about 20 people would have gathered for Sunday morning service at the church. However, those parishioners aren’t the only ones impacted. St. Andrew’s Anglican Church had been renting the building to Father’s House Church.
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“We run our youth ministry, our discipleship school, all our offices; all the ministries of the church basically run throughout the week here,” Greg Fraser, who leads a congregation of about 300 people at Father’s House Church.
This is the second church to burn down in the small community, located about 35 kilometres north of Edmonton, in the past nine months. The Morinville Baptist Church was completely destroyed by fire last September.
“It was amazing to watch the community rally when the Baptist Church burnt down last year. And I’m sure they’ll rally again for the Anglicans and for us,” said Fraser.
But while their building may have been lost, members of the church haven’t lost their faith. They will gather over the next few days to determine where to go from here.
“It’s brutal. But this is part of life and we will overcome,” Fraser said.
“I think it’s a big loss. I think in actual fact, though, the real church is still here, it’s just this building that’s gone,” Horst said. “We certainly will continue to worship. We just don’t know the form or format, but we certainly will.”
The cause of the fire is not known at this time. Sergent says investigators will be canvassing the neighbourhood, searching for witnesses or any other information to determine the cause.
With files from Shannon Greer, Global News.
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