After fire, church prepares for services

The Rev. Perucy N. Butiku looked up Thursday at the charred beam above the pews at New Hope Lutheran Church in North Valley Stream and thanked God her church was still standing -- even if a cross on the roof was not.

A fire broke out about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the multidenominational church at 60 Oliver Ave., causing fire and water damage. Though investigators had not determined an official cause Thursday, Butiku said firefighters told her it appeared to have started in the wiring of the neon cross mounted on the roof.

The cross had fallen off at some point during the fire Wednesday, leaving just a wooden post atop the church Thursday.

Water used to fight the fire damaged the church organ's pipes, which had towered over the sanctuary. The pipes were removed yesterday for repairs. Butiku said the organ won't be in operation during Sunday services.

The preschool and the after-school programs that are held in the church's basement, which was unaffected by the fire, were canceled Thursday and Friday so workers can remove debris and air out the building.

Church officials are assessing the damage and how much of the repairs will be covered by insurance, Butiku said.

Had a worker not come to the church Wednesday night to take out the trash, the fire could have been worse. The worker and an alarm alerted firefighters, said Tim Graham, a former Valley Stream firefighter and a member of the Lutheran congregation who helped clean up the debris Thursday.

It took 100 firefighters Wednesday night to contain the fire to a portion of the roof.

Butiku said Thursday she felt "blessed." She had come to the church Wednesday night while the roof was still in flames. "I said, 'God, please save the building.' " she recalled.

She said she hoped the schools would be able to reopen Monday. Muslim services will still be held in the church basement Friday, she said. Services will also be held for the 169 members of the Lutheran congregation on Sunday morning and for the 18 members of the Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ Tabernacle congregation that uses the sanctuary Sunday afternoons.

"Sunday we're in business," Butiku told the Rev. Gary Taylor, who had stopped by Thursday. Taylor is pastor of the Pentecostal congregation.

As they stood together in the church and looked up at the ceiling, Butiku noted the charred beam was part of an all-wood roof.

"Oh my God, we could have lost the whole building," Taylor said.

Butiku looked up, as if to the heavens, and replied. "This was more than luck," she said.