"Pastor, get down to the church! It is on fire!"

On Saturday, January 17th, 2015, the parish hall of St Timothy's Lutheran Church in Sunderland, England, was vandalized and set on fire.

The fire destoyed the parish hall.  The remainder of the building, including the sanctuary itself (altar, paraments, hymnals, organ, etc), are covered in a thick oily residue from the soot and smoke.

The church's insurance company dispatched a representative and police continue to investigate: the arsonist has not been apprehended.

Although we are separated from St Timothy's by an ocean and thousands of miles, we are united with them in the body of Christ and in the true confession of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

St Timothy's is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England (a sister church of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and Lutheran Church--Canada ). It is a confessional and orthodox Lutheran congregation. Pastor Edge preaches and administers the sacraments faithfully to Christ's dear flock in Sunderland.

Located in the northeast of England, St Timothy's is one of only a small handful of Lutheran congregations in the (now overwhelmingly secular) United Kingdom. At a time when political correctness and demonic platitudes are being preached from the pulpits of most churches in England, our merciful God has sent Pastor Edge to preach Christ and Him crucified.

Pray for the saints of St Timothy's, that Christ's work would continue among them and that they would not despair, even in the face of hardship and persecution.

As you are able, please support them financially so that what has been damaged can be repaired or replaced.

"And take they our life, goods, fame, child and wife,
Let these all be gone, they yet have nothing won;
The kingdom ours remaineth." (A Mighty Fortress is Our God)