Longwood Church Destroyed by Fire

Wednesday, July 24th, 2024 -- 3:01 PM

The Emmanuel Lutheran - Longwood church building caught on fire sometime overnight or early Tuesday morning.

The building appears to be a total loss. They do not know exactly how the fire started at this time. The Parish Hall seems to be untouched, but there is no electricity and will need to be inspected before it can be used.

Chuck and Wanda Peterson and Pastor Elizabeth Bier were at the church yesterday morning with firefighters. They give thanks for the firefighters from the surrounding areas who helped put out the fire and give thanks for all the prayers and condolences.

Please pray for the people of Emmanuel as they grieve memories of an important place and ask God’s guidance for the future. They ask that you do not go into the parish hall or attend to enter the remains of the church building until you hear otherwise from council president, Chuck Peterson, or Pastor Elizabeth Bier.

They will be blocking off the space after the fire department staff is certain that the fire is out. There will be no church service at Emmanuel this Sunday, July 28th. You are invited to join services at 8am at Nazareth or 9:30am at Our Savior’s.

Rev. Nancy Amacher will be preaching & presiding as Pastor Elizabeth will be in Minneapolis for her father-in-law’s memorial service. Please join them on Sunday, August 4th at Longwood Park at 10am for our all Parish service led by Breaking Chains band.

They will have a potluck afterward, with some much anticipated fellowship time. They will be in touch with Forward Bank about how to receive any financial donations people may want to share.

Any questions/concerns, please call Chuck Peterson or Pastor Elizabeth, 715-255-0013. Also, Vacation Bible School is still a go for next week, July 29-Aug 2. They’ve already rotated to St. John's Lutheran in Withee to be the host this summer.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.