State College Area Church Damaged in 2024 Fire to Celebrate Reopening

A State College area church is ready to open its doors once again after rebuilding from a devastating fire believed to be arson nearly two years ago.

Woodycrest United Methodist Church, 219 W. Clearview Ave., will celebrate the grand reopening and dedication of its restored building on Sunday, Aug. 2, with a 10 a.m. worship followed by a fellowship dinner.

The celebration is open to the entire community.

“This is more than the reopening of a building,” Rev. Renee Ford, pastor of Woodycrest United Methodist Church, said in a statement. “It is a celebration of God’s faithfulness and of the remarkable community that surrounded us. First responders, law-enforcement personnel, Patton Township, our United Methodist connection, neighbors, volunteers and friends reminded us again and again that we were not alone.”

Woodycrest UMC sustained extensive damage in a fire during the early morning hours of Sept. 14, 2024. Less than a month later, the former Fillmore United Methodist Church, 2622 Buffalo Run Road in Patton Township, was heavily damaged in a fire. Both blazes started from the outside and were being investigated as intentional.

The U.S. Justice Department Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms’ Pittsburgh Field Office said in November 2024 that it was working with Patton Township and state police “to solve and prevent a series of intentional fires at United Methodist churches.” Both cases remain open and under investigation, Patton Township Chief Tyler Jolley said on Thursday.

While Woodycrest UMC was displaced from its building, Patton Township donated the community room in its municipal building to allow the congregation to continue gathering for worship. The congregation did occasionally gather at the church property, including services under a tent in the parking lot during Holy Week in April.

Sunday’s service will honor the firefighters, emergency personnel, law enforcement, community partners, craftspeople, volunteers and others who responded to the fire or assisted with the congregation’s recovery and rebuilding.

Ford said two elements of the rebuilt church will hold special significance during the service.

The steeple, which collapsed during the fire, has been restored and stands illuminated atop the building. A large wooden cross that stood in the sanctuary, although blackened and charrred in the blaze, was rescued and has a place at the rear of the sanctuary “as a witness to enduring faith and hope,” Ford said.

Furnishings and ministry items donated by other United Methodist Churches will be blessed during the service, as well, including pieces that were not needed from Bridge United Methodist Church in Bloomsburg and from Janesville and Highspire United Methodist Churches following their closing and merger.

“These gifts carry the prayers, memories and faithful service of generations of United Methodists,” Ford said. “Their ministry will continue in a new home at Woodycrest. They remind us that no United Methodist congregation stands alone.”

Rev. Michelle Bodle, superintendent of the Mountain Valley District of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church, will assist with the building dedication and worship

The service will conclude with with the hymn “Here I Am, Lord,” which Ford said will express “Woodycrest’s commitment to enter a renewed season of service to God and the community.”