Nearly two years after a century-old church was destroyed by fire in one New Brunswick community, its congregation has come together to celebrate its reopening.
The dedication of the new Riverside-Albert Baptist Church took place Sunday, after the unthinkable happened December 31, 2013.
“I got a call about six in the morning and by the time I got over, and the church was engulfed in flames,” recalls parishioner Adrian Kennie.
An exact cause was never determined.
Adrian Kennie became co-chair of the church’s rebuilding committee, and efforts to get the small church up and running in some capacity began immediately.
The old church building had insurance but not enough to cover everything destroyed in the fire, so community members helped with everything else, including a new piano.
“We got a $10,000 piano donated,” Kennie explains. “The truck came by, rolled it up to the door and in five minutes we had a new piano.”
After about $400,000 worth of work, parishioners gathered Sunday to mark the milestone.
“We have joined with another congregation which we were really sisters and brother with them,” says parishioner Elaine Holmstrom.
“Patience is not perhaps my best virtue, so we’ve been kind of waiting to get things done and the addition is beautiful,” adds parishioner Marilyn Kennie.
It was a big moment for the church, shared with the entire community of Riverside-Albert.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore.
