Federal officials suspect arson in a series of fires that damaged or destroyed five small Baptist churches in rural Bibb County, Ala., the night of Feb. 2-3.
In addition, a sixth church in neighboring Chilton County burned the same night, but church representatives said it may have been due to an accident.
Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joined state and local authorities the morning of Feb. 3 to determine the cause of fires that “were set as fast as they could drive from one location to the next,” Bibb County Deputy Sheriff Kenneth Weems said, according to the Associated Press.
The five Bibb County churches were all located near U.S. Highway 82 and the blazes began within about three hours of each other, according to news reports. The area is located about 50 miles southwest of Birmingham.
The fires completely destroyed Ashby Baptist Church in Brierfield, Rehobeth Baptist Church in Randolph and Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church near Centreville. The other two churches, Old Union Baptist in Brierfield and Antioch Baptist in Antioch, sustained damage but escaped complete destruction.
All of the churches but Pleasant Sabine belonged to the Southern Baptist Convention, the statewide Alabama Baptist Convention and the local Bibb County Baptist Association.
No one was injured in any of the fires. But they called to mind a rash of arsons-many of them racially motivated-that destroyed dozens of African-American churches across the South in the late 1990s. Several of those crimes remain unsolved.
Four of the Bibb County churches were home to predominantly white congregatoins, while the Pleasant Sabine church is historically African-American.
David Hand, pastor of Old Union Baptist Church, said the community remains in disbelief. “Our congregation is pretty upset, but we are also thankful, because others lost a lot more than we did,” he said.
Hand said Old Union's damage resulted from two separate fires. The damaged areas include the pulpit, communion table, the American flag and the carpeting surrounding those areas.
The suspected arsonists also kicked in the back door, according to Hand-which officials said was a common thread between several of the fires.
“There is a lot of sadness around the area, but we are all pulling together,” he said.
Rick Lance, executive director of the state convention, released a statement saying the group was responding in multiple ways to the fires.
“We're working with the leadership of the Bibb Baptist Association to provide prayer support and damage assessment for these churches,” he said. “As quickly as possible, we anticipate having mobile chapels available for use by the two churches whose facilities were destroyed.
He also said the state convention would provide “appropriate financial assistance” to the convention-affiliated churches damaged. All of the churches have small congregations and budgets.
As of press time, police had made no arrests or released the names of any suspects. Alabama lawmakers have offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonists.
Associated Baptist Press