Fire damages parts of century-old church and sanctuary spared

CENTERVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Church members tell us their congregation has been around longer than the town they live in. Their current building is certainly part of the local history, too.

They have just experienced a significant day in their history, a scary Monday afternoon.

We went around town on Tuesday and asked people to tell us their memories of the church. Here's what they shared in the player above.

In downtown Centerville, almost everyone you meet has some connection to the Centerville United Methodist Church.

“I had my wedding here,” said Cody Johnson, deputy chief of the Centerville Volunteer Fire Department. “This building means a lot to many of us in this community.”

“I’ve been going to this church my whole life,” resident Alice Martin added.

Then there is Pastor Niles Worsham.

“I’ve been pastoring here for five years,” he said.

Centerville just celebrated its 200th anniversary, but Martin said the church family is older than that.

“Our church history indicates that our church began meeting in people’s homes in 1807,” Martin said.

They've been in this building for 100 years, and that's why what happened Monday caused so much concern.

On Monday afternoon, people spotted smoke coming from the church. There was a fire on the second floor.

The Centerville Volunteer Fire Department, Coble Fire Department, Hickman County Rescue Squad and Maury County Fire Department all responded.

“They ran a great offense,” Johnson said. “They managed to contain the fire and stop it, thus limiting its spread to the rest of the church.”

Most of the damage is around the pastor's office and the library. The church sanctuary has only minor smoke and water damage.

“The most important thing to me is that no one was hurt,” Worsham said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but Centerville Volunteer Fire said it is not suspicious.

Worsham reminds the town that this church has already survived this.

“That would be 1923,” he said. “They had a fire.”

I asked Martin what she thought when she looked at the church she would soon return to.

“I think about my mom and dad,” she said. “I think of my ancestors, of my family, of all the weddings, baptisms, funerals that we have had here. I think of the lives that took place in this church. This is God's house.”