BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Roughly eight months after arsonists destroyed several rural Baptist church buildings in Alabama, pastors and members from the victimized congregations joined to celebrate the churches' restoration Oct.1 with government officials and leaders from the college where two of the three arsonists were students.
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (R) and Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), who themselves are both Baptists, attended the event, along with Birmingham-Southern College President David Pollick and Lemarse Washington of the National Conference for Community and Justice. NCCJ — formerly known as the National Conference of Christians and Jews — is dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism in America.
The February fires damaged or destroyed nine Baptist churches, all located near each other in and around Alabama's Bibb County. The fires made national headlines, calling to mind a string of suspicious fires at rural African-American churches across the South in the 1990s. However, many of the congregations in the February blazes had majority Anglo congregations.
The driving force behind the dinner was the Alabama Churches Rebuilding and Restoration Fund, established March 8 by Birmingham-Southern to distribute more than $368,000 to the churches affected by the fires.
A spokesperson for the Methodist school said the fund was created the same day Birmingham-Southern officials learned two of their students were charged with arson and conspiracy in connection to the fires. Pollick's first response to the news, she said, was that the school should help rebuild the churches.
Benjamin Moseley and Russell Debusk, both 19, set the fires as a joke, according to authorities. They continued setting fires in order to divert attention from the first ones, they told police officers.
Bob Little, pastor of Galilee Baptist Church in Panola, Ala., said he harbors no ill will toward the young men. Little was born and raised in the congregation, whose building had stood more than 60 years before the fire. More than two hours south of Birmingham, Panola has a population of about 100 people.
Little's church broke ground on a new building Sept. 30. Church members decided to build on a new plot of land in the middle of town and hope to be a pillar of the community there, he said.
“We don't have any bitterness,” Little said. “All things work together for good for those who love the Lord. He's going to work all things together for a purpose. Sometimes the acts of the world seem to be bad and bruising, but in this church, God can make them work together for good.”
More than 100 ATF personnel sorting through more than 800 leads worked on the case following the initial fires, which burned the morning of Feb. 3.
Fires completely destroyed Ashby Baptist Church in Brierfield, Rehobeth Baptist Church in Randolph, and Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church near Centreville. Old Union Baptist in Randolph and Antioch Baptist in Centreville had some damage. All of the churches except Pleasant Sabine belonged to the Southern Baptist Convention, the statewide Alabama Baptist Convention, and the local Bibb County Baptist Association.
Another string of fires Feb. 7 destroyed Little's church and the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, near Boligee. Dancy Baptist Church near Aliceville and Spring Valley Baptist Church near Emelle suffered damage as well.
Jim Parker, pastor of Ashby Baptist, said in a National Public Radio interview that despite the destruction, his church plans to rebuild. They have been using two trailers donated by Southern Baptists as a sanctuary and for classroom space.
Even with the trailer-sanctuary, Parker said he has reason to believe Ashby Baptist has good years ahead. “The church is still intact, because the people are the church,” he said.
“I can't speak for other churches, but I can interpret what the fire has done for us,” Parker said. “What this has done is answered all those questions [about whether to expand] for us. The Lord has made a way for us to do some things that we otherwise would have not been able to do.”
Ashby Baptist had building insurance, and all gifts to Ashby that exceed what the church needs will be funneled to other burned churches, Jones said. The other churches are in various stages of planning, rebuilding and possibly relocating.
The rebuilding fund includes $55,000 from a collaborative effort between the NCCJ, Birmingham-based AmSouth Bank, and WBRC TV, the Birmingham FOX affiliate. It also received $33,000 from the Community Foundation of West Alabama, a group that works with donors to create charitable funds and match them to causes.
An anonymous couple from Jackson Hole, Wyo., contributed $150,000 to the rebuilding process. The fund also received unsolicited donations from individuals, corporations and foundations across the country.
Under the circumstances, Little said, events like the dinner and support from Birmingham-Southern have helped tremendously. In hindsight, he said, the fires have moved his church to “another level.”
“Everything is going well — the congregation is healing,” he said. “Overall, the church has seen God doing some awesome, miraculous things.”
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Read more:
Alabama churches face options as they rebuild after fires (4/5)
Alabama Students charged in Alabama arsons plead 'not guilty,' get June trial date (4/19)
Three students arrested, charged with nine Alabama church fires (3/8)
Investigators find missing vehicle linked to Alabama church fires (2/28)
Fires damage four more churches in rural Alabama — all Baptist (2/7)