Dear Friends in Christ,
I’m writing to ask for your prayers of comfort and support for Our Saviour, Oakland, whose church home was badly damaged in a fire this morning.
Rector Merry Chan Ong reports that the Oakland Fire Department called her around 3:25 a.m. to tell her the front of the church was on fire. Firefighters extinguished the fire, which burned the chapel door and surrounding pillars. Thankfully, there are no reports of injuries. However, Rev. Merry tells me the amount of damage is heartbreaking; along with the fire damage, there is water damage to the narthex and smoke damage throughout the building, including the church office and conference rooms.
Our Saviour has a long and proud history serving Oakland’s Chinese community. Their outreach has expanded even further in recent years, thanks to their partnership with True Sunshine, San Francisco to offer multi-lingual worship on Zoom. As Our Saviour’s bishop, I am committed to ensuring that their legacy continues. May the peace of Christ be with Rev. Merry, the lay leadership, and the entire congregation during this difficult time and help them move forward with a spirit of hope.
Almighty and everlasting God, we ask that you bless the people of Our Saviour, Oakland and the community they serve with your comfort, strength, and guidance in the wake of today’s devastating fire. We offer our thanks to Oakland Fire Department for their work to extinguish the fire. We ask for your grace as we gather resources for our work to reestablish Our Saviour to its longstanding place as a beacon of faith, love, and community. In your gracious name, we pray. Amen.
In faith,
+Marc
