By Father Douglas K. Clark

The scene was normal. Plastic grocery bags of cans filled with food for the poor were reverently placed before the altar. Brilliant sunlight flooded through the rectangular colored glass along the eastern side of the church dappling the pews with primary colors.

Halting organ tones began to fill the air covering the sounds of the congregation gathered there. The cantor moved to the lectern, the organ music grew stronger, the church grew still. The front pews filled last. The cantors began singing “It’s time to praise the Lord.” Soon the entire choir joined in, hands began clapping time and the church came alive for the start of the Eucharistic celebration– just as it always has for the past nine years. The parish slogan “Resurrection is rising” was aptly demonstrated as the members of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish, Savannah, gathered for Mass on October 18 in the old church, formerly Saint Anthony’s.

Go to the audioslide show and  listen to Fr. Robert E. Chaney's remarks.

A little more than two weeks before its scheduled dedication (November 1), the nearly-completed new church of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish was severely damaged by a fire on October 15. Savannah Fire and Emergency Services investigators announced that they have determined that arson was the cause of the blaze. Traces of a flammable liquid used to ignite the fire were discovered. On October 12, someone tried to set a fire under a door to the new structure, causing about $1,000 damage.

The investigators reported that “because of the high ceilings and expansive nature of the sanctuary, firefighters had to attack the blaze from multiple points and angles, and were required to ventilate the roof in order to reach flames that had embedded in the ceiling of the church.” The sanctuary suffered extensive fire, smoke and water damage, according to the Fire and Emergency Services. Smoke and water damage was evident throughout the rest of the structure.

Resurrection of Our Lord Parish was formed when Savannah’s Most Pure Heart of Mary and Saint Anthony parishes merged in 2000. Father Robert E. Chaney is the founding pastor. The parish has more than 275 families—almost 900 people. Because the former Saint Anthony Church is too small to accommodate the needs of a larger congregation, the new church was being built. The building project has been in the works for about five years.

A previous fire on July 29, 2009 caused moderate damage to one area of the sanctuary. That blaze was ruled accidental as investigators determined its cause to be a battery charger that overheated. The damage was severe enough to cause the postponement of the church’s dedication to November 1. It has now been postponed indefinitely.
Bishop J. Kevin Boland visited the site on the afternoon of October 15 and told the Savannah Morning News, “In some ways, this is like a death in your spiritual family. It’s something you’ve worked for—for years and years—and then in the dead of night it’s taken from you without any reason or rationale.”

Bishop Augustine Tochukwu Ukwuoma of Orlu, Nigeria, who lived at the Resurrection rectory when he was chaplain at Saint Joseph’s Hospital, was the guest celebrant. In his homily at the October 18 Mass, he told the parishioners, “Challenges are meant to strengthen our faith. A stronger community will emerge from this adversity.”
In his closing remarks, Father Chaney said, “When we started this building project I told you we would not be 100% focused on the new church. We would continue to do those things the Lord calls us to do.” Father Chaney said that the parish’s Junior Knights of Peter Claver served breakfast early Saturday at the Inner City Night Shelter. “Council 278 continues collecting blankets for the elderly in our community. All the activities of our parish continue—the third Sunday ushers are here, the Gospel choir, our altar servers . . . Nothing has stopped here at Resurrection.”

Michael J. Johnson contributed to this story.