Like a Phoenix, returning from the Ashes. The United Methodist Church of Avoca burned to the ground on August 30, 1996. It was a shock and a sad experience to stand by helplessly and see our 152 year old church go up in flames. The fire spread fast and furious but with the good work of our local firemen and the help of fire companies from the surrounding areas, the parsonage, garage and the Laundromat next door were all saved. Many of the congregation gathered at the home of Bruce & Joni Fish Gertz to console one another and to discuss the situation facing the Pastor and congregation as to the continuing of church services and other activities that had been ongoing in the church.
Pastor Noni was on vacation in Oswego at her daughter's home. Once she was notified, she left immediately for the two and one-half hour drive back to Avoca. The first church service after the fire was held at the Gazebo in the park. Following that service the Avoca American Legion, Avoca Masonic Lodge and others offered their buildings for use for church service. The general feeling was that our sister church in Wallace could not accommodate both congregations at one time. The majority of the members of the congregation felt the service should remain in Avoca. Since the Masonic Temple had areas downstairs to house Sunday School classes and Preschool, and the upstairs had ample space for worship, a vote was taken to accept their offer to use the Temple building. The congregation voted to try this arrangement for three months, then take another look at the situation. After the three month's span, the majority of the congregation voted again to remain at the Masonic Temple.
The church building and the entire contents were lost during the fire, including an organ recently purchased from a church in Painted Post for $7000.00. The new choir robes, new hymnals and all church records were destroyed. A newly organized Preschool had just started and they lost all of their supplies as well. There had been many recent improvements made to the church before the fire, including new carpet & paint for the pastor's office, remodeled bathrooms with all new fixtures, remodeling and paneling of the Sunday School rooms, a new furnace, new carpeting in the fellowship hall, painting of the walls and new curtains. The men of the church were still working on the entrance area of the church when the fire took place. During 1995 the outside of the church had been scraped and painted. Many, many, many hours of hard work had been done in all these areas by volunteer help and it all went up in smoke.
Then the community came together. Many, many members of the community and surrounding area came to our aid. Some other Methodist churches in the area gave us hymnals; an individual from Rochester, Mr. Alvin Bills who had seen the fire from Interstate 390 while driving past, donated brass cross and matching candlesticks, an altar cloth and a portrait of Christ. The old wooden cross that stood in front of the church was taken down and stood before the Gazebo for our first service after the fire. The American Legion Post held a fund-raising dinner with all proceeds donated to rebuilding the church. Little was saved from the fire. One of the beautiful stained glass windows, that had been stored in the basement and was to be placed in the steeple area, was saved. The ten beautiful stained glass windows in the sanctuary were all destroyed. These windows had been in the church since 1904. The church bell which had sounded out for so many years was completely ruined. The remains of the bell are now near our front door as a vivid reminder of that devastating fire.
The cause of the fire was under investigation for some time. Finally the investigating team could not determine an exact cause for the fire. The Insurance Company released funds to begin the cleaning process. After seeing the ruins since August 30th, November 7th was the first day of cleaning up the debris. In three days the job was completed. it reminded several in the community of Jesus' three days.
A committee was formed to do a study looking forward to what the needs might be of a new church as to size and location. Avoca, Wallace and Kanona congregations all worked together on this survey, hoping a merger would come out of the study. A special meeting was held, based upon the facts of what was found in the survey, and the results were presented to the three congregations and the Conference. A vote by private ballot turned down the merger plan, this left Avoca to proceed on their own.
Many new committees were formed, the first necessity was a building site. The Conference required at least a three acre lot, the old site had less than one acre thus a move had to be made for find a new site. Not a single location was available within the Village thus we had to reach out for a more desirable and reasonably priced lot. A lot located off Route 415 was offered at a reasonable price and it was on a road called "Jacob's Ladder" a fitting name for a church site.
On May 8, 1997, Pastor Noni and members of the congregation gathered at the old church site where a service was held for "Leave Taking" of the church building and deconsecrating of the land. From the old site, the group moved to the new site on Jacob's Ladder to consecrate the land to be used for the new church building. The "new church" was built in 1997 with the first service held Christmas Eve of that year!
It has been a long and sometimes rocky road to travel since the church burned on August 30, 1996. Time goes on, a landmark passes, where history was made for generations, but the treasured memories remain of the Avoca Methodist Church which has faithfully served the community for over two hundred years. The new church building will, in time, make history and memories as it continues to serve in the years to come. Please remember, a church is not its building - but its people, and with the dedication of these people to serve the Lord and this community; this "church" will truly survive!