East Branch community looks to rebuild after fire, demolition
And she has a message for parishioners. For Church Pastor Dora J. Odarenko, the toughest part of the last few months wasn’t the fire itself, but seeing her church reduced to rubble. “Don’t be sad because I know you’ve got a lot of memories here,” she said. “You’ve seen this church all your life, but we’re gonna build something new and it’s going to be something for all of us.” EAST BRANCH (WBNG) — This past week, the East Branch United Methodist Church was officially demolished after the structure burned down in November. She said the plan would include the new church being built on the same site as the old church and is considering the option of leaving out pews to create a more open worshiping place.
The pastor also hopes to add spaces like book nooks and computer areas for members of the church and the East Branch community to use. “In some ways, watching them demolish that old church was harder for me than the fire itself,” Odarenko said. “We were watching the final demolition of memories.” Odarenko said plans for a new church are currently being made, however, they have not yet received permission from their bishop to rebuild.