ALTON - For the Rev. Cindy Sever, congregation members and the community, the Thursday night prayer service in the St. Paul Episcopal Church garden was the beginning of "a rebirth."

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A large crowd turned out for a prayer service Thursday at the St. Paul Episcopal Church in Alton after a serious fire caused significant damage on Tuesday.

Rev. Sever said the prayer service program cover (pictured above) said it all about the gathering with beholden words from Revelation 21:5 of the Bible: “Behold, I make all things new.”

In the New Matthew Bible the scripture Sever used from Revelation 21:5 to 21:7 starts as follows: “And he that sat upon the seat said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are faithful and true.

21:6: “And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him who is a-thirst of the well of the water of life, free.

21:7: “He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be my child.”

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Sever said: “I am so pleased with the turnout of the prayer service. When sitting down on Market Street on Tuesday watching the firefighters work, hours on end, I thought, we have to gather everybody here and pray together for morale sake.”

Multiple fire departments, led by Alton, heroically extinguished the fire Tuesday, saving the sanctuary and the majority of St. Paul Episcopal Church.

The garden prayer service featured a 45-minute presentation with scripture readings, prayer, and three songs.

St. Paul Church suffered smoke and water damage because of the blaze, so repairs will need to be made to this historic church, established in 1834, and sold to the Episcopalians in 1845 when it became St. Paul property.

The church leader described the Alton Fire Department, Alton Police and all the other fire departments and first responders on scene as “our heroes.”

“The firefighters were so hot, they had to lay down in the shade during breaks to cool down,” Sever said. “The police officers were helpful in keeping traffic blocked and the area secure. The police carried messages back and forth letting us know what was happening and were just so kind. We are really blessed in Alton to have such wonderful police and fire departments.”

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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