Well, since the first one wasn't insured, at least they don't have to deal with an insurance company to boot.

Waiting for hot things to get cool enough to eat

happy that Josh and Donna finally kissed

The first one was only partially insured. And as it turns out, incorrectly insured, so they got bupkiss. So who knows?

SHE FOUND HER RING!!!

Yay! That's awesome.

Poor libkitty and her church. That's so awful.

I'm watching "The Cutting Edge 2". It's dreadful. And I got halfway through the movie before I realized that the "parents" are supposed to be the pair from the original movie. Which...um...they look and sound and act nothing like them. Yeah.

Radio/Toaster? [link]

What's next? Flatscreen LCD Video Toasters/Toaster Ovens?

Libkitty--So sorry. I am very glad there were no casualties, but to lose a not only a meeting place but the history that was in that building must be very hard on the congregation.

What a loss for you and your community, libkitty! ~ma for rebuilding.

Daniel has been doing his imitation of Jimmy Stewart and Sean Connery as Tony the Tiger.

Thanks so much, everyone. From what I've heard, it looks like somehow electrical wires or something else sparked a fire on a boat that was parked between the house that burned and the church. The boat had a fuel tank, which caught fire, and then spread to the house and the church. Both buildings are very old, as are most buildings in the area. Normally, our weather is very wet, but we've been having cold, dry, windy weather recently, which didn't help matters. It's really a tribute to our fine firepeople that no more buildings were damaged, although I think they evacuted about four blocks as a precaution.

I went to look again this evening. You can see the floor plan for our undercroft, and I could pick out where I sat for my class. Where we stored items for our food collection for Head Start families and for our thrift shop. The office. All this with a chimney standing tall, two stories above it all. There is absolutely nothing of the sanctuary, not even walls or the floor.

It's a bit daunting, but the community is really pulling together, and I know we'll be ok. Actually, I'm much more concerned about some of the other groups that use our space, such as AA and the local arts community. I'm hopeful that at least the theater group that rented storage space from us may get something from our insurance, since it was an official arrangement. We'll see.

Regarding building funds and finances, I don't really know anything yet. Our bishop is coming in this evening, and the vestry (kind of like a board of directors) will be meeting with him tomorrow and trying to figure out insurance. I don't know how much the insurance will cover. I imagine it won't be everything and that we'll have some sort of fund, but I just don't know details yet.

Most of what we had can be replaced. I'm saddened by the loss of some of our artwork, including our stained glass windows. I'm saddened by losing the space - there's a special feeling worshipping where people have worshipped for so long. But really, we were very fortunate. I'm so glad that no one was hurt, that we have insurance, that our most special paintings had been sent out of state for restoration, that our priest and his wife are wonderful, strong, courageous, and stable. If this had happened two years ago, I really don't know if our church would have continued as an entity. Now, I'm confident that we will.

I'm sorry this ended up to be so long, but it really does mean a lot for me to be able to share this here.

I'm so sorry about the church, libkitty. But it's wonderful that you live in such a close-knit and loving community! The church really is the people, and it's times like this when you realize it.

(Not meaning to preach, it just reminds strongly of a similar situation, in which I realized that "our" church really was just the building.)

It wasn't preaching, Zenkitty. I agree wholeheartedly.