Crimora church looks to rise from the ashes

CRIMORA – Pastor Neil McLaughlin has revived the fortunes of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church during his 18-month tenure.

The congregation has surged to about 50 members, and McLaughlin has upgraded the aging Crimora church.

He had plans to renovate a church basement room for local young people.

But the church, established in 1891, burned to the ground this past Friday night.

The Virginia State Police are still investigating the cause of the firstfire. The investigator on the case could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

By the time McLaughlin drove to the church on Rock Mountain Lane from his Grottoes home late Friday, the building was engulfed in flames.

“I was devastated and astonished,’’ said McLaughlin, who stayed on site until 5 a.m. Saturday.

All that is left are cinderblock walls, a partially destroyed entrance, charred wood doors and a cross that hung on the outside of the church.

Mt. Bethel held its services this past Sunday at the Grottoes Fire Department, and is looking for a temporary home it must use for the next six to nine months.

McLaughlin reminded his congregation after the fire that the church was not lost, just the building.

“I have to constantly remind them the church is not gone. The building is gone. The church is us as a people,’’ he said.

Even as the building burned late Friday night and early Saturday morning, McLaughlin told one member of his congregation he would find a place to hold Sunday services.

Now, McLaughlin is focused on working with others to find a temporary home.

While the church building was insured, the pastor said it would take a lot of fundraising to cover the total cost of a rebuilding.

McLaughlin is heartened by the community response.

“The community has responded tremendously to our needs,’’ he said. “Churches not associated with the Methodist church have contacted me. The community has tremendously opened up with concerns and prayers.”

Tommy Herndon, the Harrisonburg District superintendent of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, is working with McLaughlin to help Mt. Bethel recover.

Herndon, who has worked all over Virginia, last remembers church destruction in the Hampton Roads area with Hurricane Isabelle nearly a decade ago.

He said the fire would leave scars for those Mt. Bethel members who have grown up and spent their lives in the church.

“The big problem is all the memories of folks who have attended there all their life,’’ he said.

Herndon predicts that the next Mt. Bethel United Methodist will be a building with greater handicap accessibility.

McLaughlin said the sooner the remains of the old church are cleared, the better it would be for him and the congregation.

He called last weekend the start of a new beginning. “We need to move on,’’ he said.