The Richland Church was a beacon of hope for all Hickstown residents that saw generations of families through two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and so much loss, illness, death and despair, Lena Morsch said on the Richland Church’s Facebook page the night it burned down.

 

A family member of Morsch is offering a $1,000 reward for anyone with information the leads to an arrest in the case.

 

Lena Morsch and her sister, Gina Morsch, spent countless years of their life in that church with their family and friends.

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The two were attempting to reopen the church’s doors that had been closed for the last five years.

 

When their plan went up in flames along with the building the whole community mourned the loss of a longtime friend.

 

A tragic fire

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On the evening of Nov. 1, Gina Morsch was leaving her family farm to head back to Harrisburg with her brother when she saw a vehicle pull into the church’s parking lot, Gina Morsch said.

 

She tried to convince her brother to take them over there to check it out, but the ultimately didn’t.

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Later that night, she received a message that took her breathe away.

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“All the way back to Saline County, I had the most horrible feeling in my stomach because it just looked so suspicious,” Gina Morsch said. “By the time we had got back to his house another relative sent me a photo. They said, ‘I know you don’t want to hear this but the church is fully engulfed in flames right now.’ I can’t describe to you how I felt.”

 

The Rosiclair Fire Department received the call about the fire that night, and the Hardin County Sheriff's Office dispatched units to the scene, sheriff's office dispather Jessica Fricker said. 

 

Both Fire Marshals and Illinois Fire Service personnel were called to investigate the fire, Fricker said. 

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Gina Morsch has spent a majority of her life in that church and losing it was heartbreaking for her.

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“It really felt like somebody had called me to tell me that a family member had passed,” Gina Morsch. “It’s odd to describe a building with that much meaning, but it really felt like somebody in our family had been a victim of a horrible crime. I’m having nightmares about it now because of the guilt I feel for not being more persistent that we check it out. So much disbelief that somebody could burn down such a sweet little beautiful church that had so much history.”

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Not all was lost.

 

Shelly Deal, an individual who lives near the church, had the foresight to retrieve some historic items out of the church years prior.  

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“I do have a lot of items and records that I had taken out two or three years ago. So not everything is lost, but it’s just a shame that someone would do that for no reason. I don’t understand it.”

 

She was able to retrieve some records, a cross and some other unique items.

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“It’s a huge relief because unfortunately I did not absorb everything my elders tried to tell me about the history of the church,” Gina Morsch said. “It was sort of this divine intervention that she had the foresight to take those things out.”

 

Aside from these items, countless memories remain in the minds of those who once went to the Richland Church.

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A legacy felt by many

 

Lena and Gina Morsch were destined to be a part of the Richland Church, as were many others.

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“I grew up there. It was something that generations of our family did,” Gina Morsch said. “They went to church there. I had multiple relatives that were preachers there. It all started with our great, great grandmother who was the first member there in 1887 when the building was built.”

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Many local families, including the Robinson, Stacy and Ralph families, are just some examples of the deep roots the church has within the community, according to Lena Morsch.

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“It was very important to the lives of multiple generations of people,” Gina Morsch said. “They would leave the doors open to the church when it was active so anybody could go in there. So it’s kind of like going to your grandma’s house. It just never changed. It was familiar.”

 

The building held countless memories for all of who used to attend — from holiday services and choir to late night piano practice.

 

“We could always stop by and go in the church and play the piano,” Gina Morsch said. “It really helped shaped me as a person I think. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had that little place to go to when I had troubled times.”

 

However, not all memories were fun ones.

 

The church was built out of handmade nails and wood from many locals’ farms and even contained handmade pews.

 

It was in one of these pews the Gina Morsch spent her last moments in the church holding her mother’s hand as they mourned her uncle.

 

Her mother then passed three weeks later, Gina Morsch said.

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This was the primary reason for the church’s closing. As more and more of the church elders died, the congregation thinned.

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The Richland Church then had no choice but to close its doors, shutoff power and cease having service five years ago.

 

The future

 

While the church’s doors remained closed until its last day, there was hope that it would not remain that way forever.

 

Lena and Gina Morsch had been speaking with a pastor and they were working to get the power back on, Gina Morsch said.

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“Although service had not been held in a few years, it was our hope to restore the church and rebuild a congregation,” Lena Morsch said on Facebook. “It was a comfort to know that it still stood, waiting for a new day. We can't imagine the unthinkable has happened. It is a horrible loss!”

 

They were even looking into groups who could fix any issues with the building.

 

After hours of thinking it over Gina Morsch has decided that she plans to try to rebuild the church should they be allowed to do so on the same land.

 

“I do not want this to be the end of the church. The end of the story. Our ancestors left it in our care, and I feel really bad that I wasn’t more involved in it. It seems like a lot of those little old country churches are becoming a thing of the past. They’re an endangered species. I don’t know if the church could be sustained or if there would be enough interests, but I’m more than willing to try.”