MONTCLAIR, N.J. (PIX11) — A prayer and meditation service was held Tuesday night for the 500-member congregation of Grace Presbyterian Church in Montclair, New Jersey. Their 99-year-old church on Grove Street was destroyed by a fire Tuesday morning. The ceiling collapsed and the stained glass windows shattered.
The evening gathering was held at the nearby Presbyterian Church of Upper Montclair. Robin Curras, the interim pastor of the Grace Presbyterian Church, opened the service by saying, “We are heartbroken. We are still in shock. It is not real.”
Lisa Walker, who was married in the Grace Presbyterian Church, attended the prayer service with her mother.
“It’s breaking my heart, it’s breaking my heart, it’s so sad,” Walker told PIX11 News. “We know the building isn’t the church, but still there are a lot of memories there, and there are a lot of things that happened there, and it’s just sad.”
No parishioners were inside the church at the time of the fire and no one was seriously hurt. Four firefighters were treated and released after battling the flames and heavy smoke.
The cause of the fire, which started in the church’s basement, is still under investigation.
