CUMMING, Ga. — Two days after a fire destroyed their church, a Forsyth County congregation came together for Sunday service near the Cumming Fairgrounds.
Channel 2 Action News reported Friday when fire department investigators said the church’s roof and steeple had collapsed and the sanctuary burned.
On Sunday, Channel 2’s Bryan Mims was there as the congregation gathered for prayer in the parking lot.
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The congregation gathered outside their church, a modest white building near the fairgrounds.
In the background of the parking lot service, the church’s roof is burned away, the sanctuary is blackened.
Charred wood and crumpled metal sit against the building’s walls, and the steeple leans against a nearby tree.
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Mims said it was a poignant scene as about two dozen members of Mercy Fellowship Church stood shoulder-to-shoulder to pray.
Some shed tears and held hands.
The congregation had only recently moved into the building in October, after it had sat vacant for a while.
Pastor Maggie Pruitt Black told Channel 2 Action News they’d done some recent remodeling at the church, which was about 70 years old, and were overjoyed to have their own place of worship.
The flames that broke out early Friday morning burned several hours before a Cumming police officer saw the fire and called it in.
Black said she has no idea what could have sparked the fire and said the origin of the blaze was nowhere near any electrical outlets or wiring.
She said the sight of the church’s condition is heartbreaking.
“We’re all devastated and we’re all brokenhearted. And we had a great vision for this place. I had a burden for the Cumming area and my heart’s in Cumming,” Black told Channel 2 Action News.
The congregation later met for worship services in someone’s house, but told Mims they don’t have a place they can meet after that.
The pastor lives about an hour away in Cleveland, Ga. and says God put it on her heart to come lead a church in Cumming.
Despite the setback of the fire, Black told Mims God has mighty plans for the congregation in Cumming.
“And I was just excited to see what God was gonna do. Just because the building is gone, that don’t mean the people is gone. And I really believe with all my heart that we will relocate,” Black said.
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