Hordes turn out for healing service after Nova Scotia church fire

Scores of people clad in white gathered Sunday for a healing service in a community gym across the street from a fire-ravaged historic church just outside Halifax. (Photo: Canadian/ Wikipedia)

HALIFAX—Scores of people clad in white gathered Sunday for a healing service in a community gym across the street from a fire-ravaged historic church just outside Halifax.

The service was orginally scheduled to take place in St. Thomas Baptist Church in North Preston, N.S., but was moved after a blaze tore through the sanctuary last Wednesday.

No one was injured, but the fire left a gaping hole in the roughly century-old building that serves as the social hub for the predominantly black community.

Tony Atuanya, the church’s finance officer, says its insurance policy will cover the full cost of damages, and notes there has been a surge in donations in the wake of the fire.

Rev. Wallace Smith told the crowd that the charred structure was just a building, and that the congregation was the actual church.

Smith estimates that on some Sundays, his church receives as many as 600 people.