Exeter - A congregation in Exeter is counting their blessings after a fire at their church Monday night.

While services will be held at another location for awhile, the damage could have been much worse.

"Someone knocked on the door, a passerby, and they said 'You have flames coming out of the back!' And I looked out and saw that there was quite a good size fire started and called 911. And, I heard that another neighbor had already called," said Jodi Faloon, the pastor’s wife.

Thanks to a quick response from several departments, the fire at the Full Gospel Church Monday night was contained to the back of the building.

Tuesday morning, the church's pastor made another call.

"About 10 o'clock, I noticed a little bit of smoke coming from behind the attic again, some thing's were starting to heat up a little bit," said Chris Faloon.

Firefighters came back to make sure the fire hadn't rekindled.

Corinna Assistant Fire Chief Shawn Richards says they have an idea of what caused it.

"It looks or appears that it may have been a wood stove that started in the back of the building. It was in the basement. It worked its way up through the walls to the attic," said Richards.

State fire investigators are working to confirm that theory.

As for upcoming services at the church, they already have a spot in the works.

"The town of Exeter has offered to allow us to hold our meetings in the town function room, so I think that is probably our plan at this point to continue on our services. It's difficult to see the damage to the building. There was a special painting of the cross that was painted by someone in the area when the church was built that is burned. That was a special thing to a lot of us, a special, irreplaceable, piece of art that was always up behind our podium," said Faloon.

Their community has already reached out to the congregation.

"Exeter is a little town, but it's like one big family. And, I've already got calls from businesses and people have stopped in, some who helped to build the church in the late 40's. There's already calls and offers of help and support," said Faloon.

Knowing the outcome could have been much worse is keeping them in good spirits.

"In the end, they're just things. You know, it's wood. It's structure, and everyone's safe and you know, we'll go on. There is optimism. You know, with some hard work and some elbow grease, and support we will continue on," said Faloon.

If you'd like to make a donation to the church, you can send it to the Full Gospel Church, P.O. Box 24, Exeter, Maine, 04435.

You can also call them at 379-2661.

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