A dozen parishioners of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church joined hands and bowed heads grayed by age Sunday, praying for wisdom, discernment and healing in the wake of a fire that gutted the historic Hampden church early Saturday morning.

After Sunday services held at the nearby Hampden United Methodist Church, many in the small congregation said they held out hope that their 160-year-old church could be rebuilt, even as they worried about looters, unstable wreckage and the looming possibility that all the churches in the area could be reorganized.

“These people are seriously grieving the loss of their church,” said the Rev. Robin Johnson, pastor at both Mount Vernon and Hampden United Methodist churches. “It’s just stone and wood, but it’s also memories; it’s weddings and confirmations held there.”

The fire did about $5.5 million in damage to the church, Johnson said.

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Lou Bopst, an 80-year-old Delaware resident who detoured from a family reunion to see what became of his old parish, said Mount Vernon had as many as 200 people attending when he took his children there in the 1970s. Today only about 40 “active” members remain, after many split off to form their own church last year, Johnson said.

The local Methodist churches were already in talks to decide the future of their small and aging congregations; the fire and its fallout will become just another factor in the discussion, he said.

“This church is already struggling. ... It was a little like adding insult to injury,” said Michelle Smith, who added that she grew up attending Mount Vernon. Her fondest memories, she said, were of rushing across the street to services between peals of the 1 1/2-ton bronze bell — now a hulking shadow against the blue sky shining through the blackened steeple.

The stained-glass windows had just been protected against the elements, she said, but they were smashed into webs of wire and glitter by firefighters trying to ventilate the burning building. The city was scheduled to bring in a crane today to take down the unstable steeple, allowing members to finally enter what remains of the building and begin salvaging what they can.

City Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said investigators had not yet confirmed Sunday whether lightning sparked the fire, but witnesses reported it began just as a fast-moving thunderstorm rushed through the area.

Betty Callahan, another lifelong parishioner at Mount Vernon, said the church’s community outreach services would be moved to Hampden United Methodist for now. She added that services for Mount Vernon’s faithful would be held at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church on Roland Avenue, because it has air conditioning and fewer steps for the older members to climb.

Callahan said she was “undone” by the thought of losing her church family, but the church itself was only part of it.

“That’s a building — a cherished building — but my faith is here,” she said, tapping her heart.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com