ADRIAN, Mo. — Hundreds of people gathered Sunday for the first church service since a massive fire destroyed the Adrian United Methodist Church building Wednesday.
The service was held at Adrian City Park at 10 a.m., the church's normal time for worship.
About 200 people of all ages filled the pavilion while the church building, located at 202 East Main Street, is closed off.
Burn marks and smells remained Sunday morning.
But at first glance of the service at the park, it wasn’t obvious what the congregation had experienced just days prior.
“Watching the fire, our church burning, I thought, 'There’s just so many good memories here,'” said Melinda Elmer, who’s been a member of Adrian UMC since she was two weeks old.
It’s not her first experience with a church fire.
She said her family visited Adrian UMC in 1969 because their original church had burned down. Her family has been there ever since.
Elmer drove over as soon as she heard the news.
“It was sad and it was very heartbreaking because it was our history,” Elmer said. “My baptism was there, my confirmation, my wedding. My parents’ funerals were there, my youngest son’s funeral was there.”
Elmer wasn’t the only one at the scene Wednesday morning. Pastor Bridget Cashman received a call around 6:20 a.m. about the blaze.
“I was shocked,” Cashman said. "[I said,] ‘What? What do you mean?' [I] got to the scene, and by the time I had gotten there, the roof had already collapsed. I was just so very thankful that no one was in that building. An hour later, our daycare would have been opened, and we have 40 kids."
The fire wasn’t just a threat to the past but also to the future.
“We grew up there, we were supposed to continue growing up there,” said youth member Berkleigh Pierce. “We were supposed to get married there. It’s just been really hard for all of us.”
Cashman validated those feelings during Sunday’s service. In addition to thanking first responders and facilitating a moment of silence, she preached around the message: Up from the ashes, hope will rise.
“I wanted them to know that it’s okay to grieve, it’s okay to have sorrow,” Cashman said. “It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel the pain of that but at the same time to remember that we do have hope.”
The congregation's hope is built on a foundation member Liz Ray said can’t crumble.
“It’s not the building, it’s the people,” Ray said. “The body. Although, we do need a building.”
Ray wasn’t afraid to laugh or smile as she reflected on the fire. She said it’s what Jesus would do.
“Why be negative? That’s Satan’s tricks,” Ray said. “What Satan means for evil, God can turn to good. I think we’re seeing it. He just laughs in his face and can turn it to good, and that’s what I’m believing.”
It may not look like it, but there’s a lot of good left behind, Cashman said.
“This is a strong community here in Adrian and beyond, the neighboring towns,” Cashman said. “It’s just amazing to see the outpour of people and how something like this will bring us closer together.”
During Sunday's service, Cashman told her congregation the technical answer to how long it will take to rebuild is one to two years.
But there’s one question she said no one’s asked.
“There was no question as to whether or not we would rebuild because we are alive and well and serving God in the community in so many different ways,” Cashman said.
In the midst of life’s ashes, this church has found room for a song of celebration.
It has also found room to conduct future services, which Cashman said will be held in the Adrian Optimist Building.
Wednesday night community meals will also continue as well as other programming, like the kids' camping trip in July.
"It’s just a reminder that the church is the people," Cashman said. "It’s not a building that you go to, it is the people."
Check the church’s Facebook page for updates.
Anyone looking to donate can visit the church’s website.
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KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
