Sarah Eames
COBLESKILL — In spite of a destructive fire in its sanctuary over the weekend, the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church remains standing on the same spot it has occupied for nearly 230 years.
The fire was called in shortly after 4:30 Saturday morning, Nov. 7, by a Cobleskill police officer on regular patrol, according to Matt Brisley, Schoharie County fire coordinator.
Cobleskill fire and ambulance crews were the first on the scene, Brisley said, and fire departments from Richmondville, Central Bridge and Carlisle were on scene until around 8 a.m.
The Schoharie County Firefighter Assist and Search Team assisted, Brisley said, but because most of its members serve with other local departments, the Worcester team was also called.
The New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control is investigating the blaze, which is believed to be electrical in nature and does not appear to be suspicious, Brisley said.
The fire started in the choir loft and burned into two rooms below the sanctuary, which sustained significant water damage. The entire northeast corner of the sanctuary, including one of 10 stained glass windows, was destroyed by the flames.
The burgundy carpet covering the altar and the presbytery burned away, leaving charred hardwood exposed where the floor collapsed. Paint curled from the vaulted ceiling, damaged by heat and smoke, and the marble baptismal font was left dusted in soot. The pipe organ was a complete loss.
The wooden communion table, its covering and candlesticks remained intact, as did the carved inner railing. The wooden pews were largely undamaged, as was the sanctuary lamp, still hanging above the altar.
Former congregant Marcy Demick Lilly remembers when the eternal light, made of red glass and brass, was dedicated in memory of her older sister, Ann Demick, who died of lupus in 1966* at age 13.
The lamp is a symbol “of ancient origin” denoting “the eternal presence of God,” according to the bulletin from its dedication.
“The lamp is usually to be found in synagogues representing the presence of God,” reads the letter. “It is noted in Roman Catholic churches as designating the tabernacle, within which is the Host, or body of Christ. In our churches the lamp denotes the presence of God, not only in His Holy Temple but also, within the world.”
“It is fitting that such a memorial be dedicated to the memory of a young woman, who during her illness never lost sight of the ever present God,” the letter continues. “It is also fitting that her family suggested this gift for the Church as a constant remembrance of the strength of the Living God in the world today.”
Lilly, who has since moved to West Virginia, said her mother served as the church’s choir director in the ‘60s and ‘70s. She was baptized and confirmed there, and married her husband, Jim Lilly, at the church Aug. 22, 1981.
“I grew up in that church and I cried when I heard the news,” Lilly said. “My childhood and growing up years were wrapped up in the church.”
Among her favorite childhood memories are the late-night Christmas Eve services, held by candlelight.
“It was gorgeous in the church with all the candles,” Lilly said. “If we were lucky, we came out at midnight and it would be snowing.”
“It has been a very devastating and grief-filled experience for the people of Zion,” said the Rev. Dr. Sara Litzner, pastor of Zion. “Many people point to Zion as the place they were baptized, or married, or where their family member’s funeral was held.”
The congregation, the first in the Cobleskill valley, was organized in 1773 by Palatine settlers from the Middle Rhine region of what is now western Germany. The church was home to one of the first Sunday schools in the state, organized in 1826.
The church was built in 1868, replacing the original brick structure erected in the 1790s, according to Theodore Shuart, Cobleskill town historian. Expansions were added in 1904 and 1962 to accommodate the growing congregation. The Zion congregation merged with St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Seward in 1971, maintaining both locations.
Most of the congregation’s funding came from farmers in outlying areas as far away as Carlisle, Shuart said. “For the most part, the wealthy local businessmen and the attorneys put in nothing.”
As a student at Cobleskill Central School in the 1960s, Shuart recalled attending fourth grade in the church when the original school building was unable to house the expansive Baby Boomer generation.
Cobleskill graduate Pat Sommers said she attended Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church from the time she was 10 years old, receiving her First Communion and making her confirmation there. As a child, she attended Sunday school and sang in the junior choir.
“这是一个毁灭性的事情,尤其是当你lived your whole life there,” Sommers said of the fire. “It was always special — just my home church.”
On June 21, 1958, Sommers wed her husband, Milton, at the church. The couple’s four children were later baptized there.
“我的婚礼——他们是我的照片n black and white — they show just how gorgeous it was,” said Sommers, now 81 and a Florida resident. “The older you get, the more sentimental you get about these things.”
“It’s heartbreaking that they have to go through this,” said Pastor Norma Malfatti, director for evangelical mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s Upstate New York Synod, of which the Zion congregation is a member. “It’s crushing for them. We’re doing everything we can to support the congregation as they go through this.”
The church is being assisted by the Upstate New York Lutheran Disaster Response Team, a ministry of the ELCA that helps find grants and resources for congregations in crisis. “Our disasters tend to be floods,” Malfatti said, noting that several response teams deployed throughout the state in the aftermath of the 2011 floods. “Members of the team will walk beside the congregation as they navigate their next steps.”
The Zion church is not unfamiliar with tragedy: in February 2016, lightning struck the historic steeple, which burned down after firefighters were unable to reach the flames. Church services were temporarily relocated as the steeple was reconstructed with a shorter peak.
“It is our intention to continue the work and ministry of this congregation, in this community, as we have for about 200 years,” Litzner said. “We do not have exact details, but are working with the insurance company to figure out how to proceed.”
“整个议会praying for them,” Malfatti said. “We’re at the ready not only to surround them with prayer, but with presence and support as they figure out what they need.”
Sarah Eames, staff writer, can be reached atseames@thedailystar.comor 607-441-7213. Follow her @DS_SarahE on Twitter.
*Changed at 6:44 a.m. Nov. 10 to correct the disease and year of death.
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