A pulpit Bible printed in the late 19th century was first used at St. Paul's Church in rural Wisconsin. In the 1950s a fire reduced the church to the ground; the Bible was recovered from the ashes substantially intact.
The Bible was placed in service at the rebuilt parish, which over the following decades was absorbed into the Springs United Methodist Church congregation. In 2019, Springs United Methodist Church itself burned to the ground in a second fire. When the parishioners returned to the site, they found the same Bible — twice now preserved — among the ruins, again intact, open to Scripture.
The pastor's statement was reported by ABC News in 2019. The Bible has been retired to a display case as a sign to the congregation of the abiding of the Word.