The First Congregational Church in Spencer, Massachusetts burned down Friday. The building dated back to 1863 while the congregation there ultimately dates to 1743.
The roof of the church collapsed, prompting an evacuation from houses nearby. Witnesses to the conflagration were horrified.
“The top of the building just came crashing down. It was terrible. There were people crying, it was really, really bad,” nearby resident Krystal Sanchez told WBTS-TV.“It has been confirmed to be lightning. We had a police officer that was doing a detail that he said he saw the church get struck by lightning. I just got another woman call me to say she was outside with her kids and saw it get struck by lightning.
No one was in the building at the time, but the 30-member United Church of Christ congregation is now without its spiritual home. “People are deeply attached, so it’s going to be really hard for folks to figure out what comes next,” Rev. Bruce McLeod, who began leading the congregation as pastor in February, told WBZ-TV.
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