NYC's Middle Collegiate Church, destroyed in massive fire in 2020, holds its own resurrection Mass on Easter Sunday
Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village quite literally rose from the ashes on Easter Sunday, reopening for the first time since it was destroyed by a fire in 2020.
It was a true holiday blessing. Music and people filled the sanctuary as a slideshow took the congregation back through the more-than-four-year journey.
The 6-alarm fire that destroyed Middle Collegiate
On Dec. 5, 2020, the historic and beloved house of worship on Second Avenue near 7th Street was devastated by a massive fire that started in the building next door. The 128-year-old sanctuary was soon gone.
"There is nothing like watching your church burning down. It's frightening -- a six-alarm fire. It's shocking and so the grief of these last four and a half years doesn't really dissipate right. I say, we're always in the fire a little bit -- pictures, walking by the burned down site. You're always a little bit in the fire, but today, today, is a true rising up," said Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, the church's senior minister.
The church's program building, which connects to the sanctuary, was also severely damaged, but through resilience, hope and the power of community, it, too, has been restored.
Many thrilled about reopening and what's to come
When parishioners step through the doors of the restored church, they will see New York's Liberty Bell, which survived the fire. It's the same bell that tolled upon the reading of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and in remembrance of the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.
"To be back in this space for this resurrection day is incredibly symbolic of our own rising. We have risen from the ashes and are back in our space doing the ministry that we love doing," Lewis said.
"Just being home, it's very, very nice to be home," parishioner Edwina Richardson said.
"God is good, right, and we're back," parishioner Neecy Watson added.
The next step is taking the empty lot where the sanctuary stood and turning it into a community green space. It will be an open door for all to gather, and pieces of the church that survived the fire will stand tall again and be incorporated in the space.
"This has been a community center since 1892. The poor children who lived in this neighborhood in the tenements didn't have toothbrushes. They came here to get toothbrushes, and milk and food. So we've always been a hub for the neighborhood, but I think the neighborhood has missed us and were excited to get back," Lewis said.
