A column of the Somers Congregational Church lies blackened after the fire of Jan. 1, 2012.

Where was this community’s #protector

When the fire was kindled,

When the flames exulted?

Where was this community’s protector

When the tower sagged,

And the beams groaned low,

And the bell’s cast bronze softened and cracked?

Their #protector remained

Just where the Spirit always lives:

In the icy wind,

In the tear-filled eye,

In the resolute heart.

Somers’ protector grieved

And held a grieving people close,

And fed their hearts on grace and courage.

Last spring a new bell rose, and waits,

Waits for this spring when they will praise

Their loving, faithful #protector

In a house they’ve built for worship.

The frame of the rising Somers Congregational Church UCC in May 2013.