After three seemingly unrelated fires, three Baptist churches in the state are starting the new year dealing with the loss of their buildings — and one with loss of life.
Life Community, a mission church of Coffee Baptist Association that met in Lanny’s Athletic Club in downtown Enterprise, burned on New Year’s Eve. One man died inside.
Pastor Lanny Shepard owns the gym and set up one large room in his gym for services three times a week, said John Granger, director of missions for Coffee Association. “He reached out to people who didn’t have homes or jobs or maybe had drug problems.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) has already sent financial assistance to the congregation.
The SBOM also sent financial assistance to Clements Road Baptist Church, Cottondale, which lost its building in an afternoon blaze Jan. 4. The fire was deemed an accident, and the building a total loss.
“It looks like everything’s gone, and nothing can be saved,” said Leon White, the church’s interim pastor, according to the Tuscaloosa News. “It’s sad that it happened, but we’re just going to trust that the good Lord will take care of it.”
The SBOM is working to furnish a mobile chapel for the church.
A third church, Pleasant View Missionary Baptist, Birmingham, burned Dec. 31, with the cause of the fire not yet determined. (TAB)
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