Sheldon, Iowa — A Sheldon church has made the final determination of where to build their new structure to replace the one that was heavily damaged in a September, 2016 fire.
Bethel Reformed Pastor Dave Van Kley tells KIWA that the church had researched various location possibilities in the Sheldon community, before coming to the conclusion that the lot located directly south across 7th Street from the old building, is the obvious choice for the new building. The lot that will become home to the new Bethel Reformed Church building is where the old Sheldon Middle School building once stood.
Van Kley says the church has taken some small steps toward a new home, such as beginning talks with an architect, and forming teams to help the process move along.
The fire that began Bethel’s journey toward a new church building happened on the afternoon of Sunday, September 25, 2016. Shortly before 3:30 that afternoon firefighters were called to the church to a report of smoke in the building.
At the time of the blaze, Bethel Reformed leaders said the fire started on the third floor of the education wing. They said it seemed to have originated in the wiring of one of the light fixtures. In addition to the damage from the fire, which they said was quickly contained by firefighters, they said there was quite a bit of water damage, and smoke filled most of the building. Church leaders said they were grateful to God that no one was hurt in the incident.
In March of this year, Pastor Van Kley announced that the congregation of Bethel had made the difficult decision to not continue repairs on the church building, deciding that it was unwise to put substantial money into repairing the structure.
Van Kley says his congregation, which has been meeting at the Sheldon High School since the fire, will hold an outdoor tent worship service this Sunday, July 31st, on the future site of the new structure, which he called the “Lot of Faith.” He says the worship service will be followed by a congregational cookout on the site.
The pastor says his congregation has shown great spirit, and a positive attitude in rolling with the punches since the fire happened. He called it an opportunity to “celebrate God’s faithfulness” in leading them on this journey. Van Kley says they have learned that “Wherever we gather, God is with us.”
