By Amanda Collins

Progress continues on the rebuilding of the Meadows of Dan Baptist Church.

The former church, a white wooden building, was extensively damaged in a March 2015 blaze.

Pastor Shawn Carter said the community reached out following the fire, and has been instrumental and supportive in the rebuilding effort.

The congregation has held services since the first Sunday after the fire in the fellowship hall that is located behind the site of the church.

The new church building is expected to be completed later this fall. Carter said the congregation waited for two years before even starting to rebuild.

The hardest thing, he said, has been transitioning, what with so many memories of marriages, funerals and the like in the former church.

“It’s the end of an era and the start of a new one,” Carter said, adding construction of the new church is expected to be completed later this fall. The new brick church is situated on the site of the former church.

A special singing and service will be held when it opens, Carter said.

After attending school with members of Faith Baptist Church in Mount Airy, N.C. that recently caught fire, Carter said he has reached out to some of them, offering support and a little advice.

“Cherish memories,” he said he told them, and be sure to “realize that God’s not done.”