The roof collapsed at First Congregational Church.
A four-alarm fire that resulted in the roof collapsing at First Congregational Church of Berkeley forced Renewal congregation Chochmat HaLev to scramble and move its Rosh Hashanah services at the last minute to another local church.
The fire roared through the church, built in 1923, on Sept. 30, two days before Chochmat HaLev was scheduled to hold its Erev Rosh Hashanah services there. St. John’s Presbyterian Church quickly offered to take over as host of the services for the roughly 200-household congregation.
“Our prayers go out to the First Congregational Church community as they deal with this heartbreaking disaster,” Chochmat HaLev said in an email message.