Someone burned our church down last nite!

[amaranthe]

I cant believe it! Someone burned down our church last nite! It looks like arson because anothter church of the same denomination burned 2 days ago about 5 miles from ours. Also, in our little town, of about 1000 people, a barn, an out building and a house have burned in the last 2 weeks. (Someone died in the house fire.)

Our church was built by slaves. It was over 150 years old. It was built in 1852. 12 generations of my family have gone there. My father is an Elder there and used to preach there too until he retired. My grandfather and brothers have preached there too. I was married there and my husband built the addition right after we married. There was an out house behind it that we had to use when I was a little girl because there was no bathroom then.

We are all so sad. We've been crying all morning. I still just cant believe it!

[amaranthe]

I just went down there to meet with others from our congregation. Almost everyone was there. We huddled together and cried and prayed. It was the 8th oldest church in the country. It was on the national register of historic places. My grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great, great-great were all married there. So were we. (I probobly have even more Great grandparents that were marrid there too, since 12 generations of my family attended there.

We have already had an outpouring of offers for places to meet. The other church that was burned down this week will be meeting in our school. They offered to share it with us. (They are the same denomination we are too.) But, we are going to meet this week at the local community center.

I am heartbroken this morning. But, we will go on. They can burn down the building, but they cant burn down our church. We are the church and it is us, and it will endure forever.

Please pray that they catch the evil person responsible very soon.

[ICNDonna]

That is so sad. In our area, somebody is starting fires in rural schools. The last one was on August 5th. I hope they catch the culprits soon.

Donna

[SharonA]

I agree...It is very sad. I do not understand why anyone who do such a thing. There was so much history connected to it. I am so sorry your Church Family is going through this. (((Hugs))) and prayers for you and the rest of the congregation.

[SandyRN]

I'm so sorry! We've got an arsonist loose near our area as well and he/she/they burned down the courthouse in a rural county, then the DA's building as well. The courthouse was from before the civil war and survived without being burned or destroyed in the destruction of the south.

It's all so very sad, and I know you are heartbroken as so much of your history was in that building.

Sending you hugs and prayers.

Sandy

:pray:

[kuntrygurl78]

I looked at the pictures. Its just sad! I am praying for you and your church family!:pray:

[dg2901]

Crime such as this disgusts me.

I'm sure you're church family will survive and eventually be able to move on.

Wishing you well...
Diana

[Julie B]

My heart is breaking for you as I look at the pictures. I can't imagine what you must be feeling.....praying for you and your church families.

[amaranthe]

Thank you all for the kind words and support! The investigators ruled today that it was arson for sure. Of course, we all pretty much knew it anyway, but they did confirm that it was definately arson. We are all just so sick about this! But, we hope that a good lead pans out. (Someone made an anonymous, threatening phone call to the Minister of the other church that burned and told him that "other churches will be burned too." Of course, the investigators have been able to trace the call, so they have the man that made the call in custody right now, interviewing him, so that looks like a pretty decent lead!

The church was built by slaves who quarried the rocks on the bluff. Also, the walls and ceiling were plastered with sand from the river which was mixed with hog bristles for binder.

[leelee88]

I am so sorry this is just so sad..I just do not understand how people can be so cruel! I hope they find out whoever did this!!

Thoughts and prayers headed your way..:pray:

[amaranthe]

Thank you for all the support and replies! I have talked to several people and so far, the consensus is that most of us want to meet on our own for the first Sunday, but after that to meet with the other congregation that was burned down at the school. We all want to be together and be there to support each other and our sister church members thru this difficult time.

It will be hard day tomorrow, but we will get thru it. I have been having nightmares since this all started. I wake up after each one and have a hard time getting back to sleep. My mind keeps flashing back to the fire and seeing it engulfed in flames. I wish I could get that vision out of my head.

[SharonA]

This place meant a lot to you. Losing it is like losing a member of your physical family. You are grieving. Of course you are going to dream about it. I think meeting with the other members who are experiencing the same emotions as you will be very helpful. You can cry, talk and remember together.

I still find it difficult to believe that someone would do something so terrible.

Sending you many (((hugs)))...

[amaranthe]

I want to thank all of you for your support. It really means alot to me. It has been a pretty tough few days, but we are getting through it. We had our first service since the fire on Sunday morning. After services, we all stayed to talk about things. Unfortunately, the church was only insured for $222,000. The contents were insured for $30,000. Apparently, whoever was in charge of this must have dropped the ball or not have kept the policy updated when we built on a few years ago. :confused: But, whatever happened, we are going to deal with the hand we have been dealt, and we are going to rebuild. Only now, instead of hiring it out like the other church that was burned will doing, we will be building it ourselves. We built the fellowship hall, 3 classrooms and a nursery a few years ago with the members doing everything, so we can do this too. My husband used to be a contractor, so he contracted it for them for free before (and did most of the work by himself after the initial exitement waned and volunteers were few or too elderly to be much help.) He said he will do it again. He said we built the addition for $20 a square foot since we didnt have to pay labor on anything, and can do the whole thing for that too. The only part we'd have to hire out is electrical. By doing this, we can afford to rebuild, but it will probobly take a year to do it all, since he works full-time and we raise tobacco too. (We have 8 acres that he is in the middle of cutting, spiking, and housing in the tobacco barns.) So, he wont be able to start on the church until he gets finished with that, which will be about a month and 1/2.

So, that's the plan! Meanwhile, several other churches have offered to share their buildings with us. They have even offered to move their own service times if we wanted to have a separate service! We havent decided what to do there, but will make a decision about that at tomorrow night's service. So, we are working hard to get everything figured out.

I have really been surprised by all the coverage the story has recieved. Even the NY Times did a story about it! It was on the national news too a few times!

Thank you all again for all of your kind words and support. Though it has been an incredibly emotional and difficult time, it helps alot knowing that I have friends here who care and are here to support me. :kissing: Please keep our church and community in your prayers while we are all trying to heal and come together for the work that is ahead.