St. Benedict’s Church welcomes Woodbury Union parishioners after fire

November 25, 2018 5:23 pm

By: Amanda Pitts

alpitts@abc6.com

@APittsABC6

WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — St. Benedict’s Church in Warwick welcomed Woodbury Union Church parishioners with open arms Sunday after a fire tore through the church Wednesday night.

“It is unusual for a Protestant church to be meeting in a Catholic sanctuary.”

Pastor TJ DeMarco led Woodbury Union’s service Sunday morning right after St. Benedict’s mass. His 100 member parish will meet there every week until they’re back on their feet.

“Father Marciano, as soon as he talked to us said, ‘Hey look. There’s only one Jesus, so why don’t you guys come meet here?'”

Parishioners we spoke with are trying to make the most of this change.

“All my friends were Catholic. I was the only Protestant in the neighborhood, so, it kind of felt like, hey, I always wanted to do that!”

Jim Praski has belonged to Woodbury Union since he was born.

“It’s just so devastating for somebody that’s been with the church as many years as I have.”

The cause of last week’s fire is being investigated as potential arson. State Police called in a K-9 trained to detect ignitable liquids.

“People have been baptized, married here, and really, quite frankly, expected to be buried at that church,” said Pastor DeMarco.

The damage to the 110-year-old building is so bad that they’ll have to knock it down and build a new church. The pastor said it’s a blessing in disguise.

“We’ve got a fantastic team, we’ve got a great congregation, and I’m excited about how we can build a new site that will better serve the Conimicut Village where we are.”

Parishioners have started a GoFundMe to help with the cost of rebuilding. Click here to donate.