The following is from the WSBT-TV news on December 24, 2006

Christmas Spirit Alive and Well in Burned Church

(WSBT) A couple months ago, the Albright United Methodist Church in Mishawaka nearly burned to the ground after a lightning strike. That hasn't dampened members' spirits and that spirit was on display Sunday. They held their Christmas Eve service in the church's gym.

"The spirits are extremely high this year because after the fire we weren't sure if we could be here or not," Pastor Dennis Ingle said while standing in the congregation's makeshift sanctuary in the church's gym. "This is the second time that we have been able to come together in our own building and so the feelings are really high."

"After the fire, we found out that all of our Christmas ornaments and our tree they were gone," said Melissa Grindle. "Some of us came up with the idea to give an ornament that was special to you and your family throughout the years. This is a small step to get our church back to where it was."

"We wanted Christmas here so this is like the best thing in the world for us," said April Horvath. "We're just happy to be back."

The community has responded to Albright's need. Just last week Granger Community Church donated $2500 to help with the rebuilding process.

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/ 12/24/2006

**************

The following is from the WNDU-TV news on December 24, 2006

Church Celebrates Coming "Home for the Holidays"
Posted on 5:02 PM Dec 24, 2006
Reporter: Stephanie Stang • Email Address: sstang@wndu.com

Church Celebrates Coming "Home for the Holidays"

Many may be "home for the holidays" but the phrase applies to an entire church this Christmas in Mishawaka.

Just in the "nick" of time Albright United Methodist opened its doors for Christmas services after a major fire this fall.

The opening took hundreds of volunteers from the church and many donations from the community.

In fact Granger United Methodist donated money to help speed up the clean up.

Until the weekend before Christmas the church had been meeting at the Battell Center.

Members of the Albright United Methodist Church are celebrating the fact that they are truly "home for the holidays."

“Its a great feeling not just a good feeling but a great feeling. Its a real milestone,” says Dick Frantz chairman of the church’s board of trustees.

“It would be strange to be elsewhere,” says church member Pam Waidner.

Although it might be strange to meet in the church's gym members are grateful to be back inside the actual building.

It's a goal they set after a fire partially burnt the church to the ground eleven weeks ago.

“I started pushing that on the second week of October week after the fire… if we don't have a goal… if you don't have something out in front of you, it probably won't work,” says Frantz.

“I bet there have been more than a thousand people outside of the congregation who have come in and helped us so that's great blessing,” says head pastor Dennis Ingle.

The team effort comes after the fire when members became re-committed to the church's ultimate purpose.

“The church is really not the building. It’s the people and it did bring people a lot closer together,” says Ingle.

Volunteers have been posting progress reports on the church’s website to keep the congregation updated on the fire clean up.

It will probably be two years though until everything is back to normal and fully restored.