Members of Trinity Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, learned recently that a church member professed responsibility for the 2001 fire that destroyed their building.
Trinity Pastor James Tingle said he was shocked when Katrina Hubbert, a church member, telephoned him the afternoon of Jan. 9 to confess that she had set fire to the church 13 months ago.
According to The Tuscaloosa News, Hubbert, 39, of Tuscaloosa was charged with second-degree arson in connection with the Nov. 5, 2001, fire at the church at 6901 U.S. Highway 82 E. in Tuscaloosa. At press time Hubbert was being held in the county jail with bail set at $20,000.
The fire destroyed the building, but on Oct. 6, 2002, the congregation moved from the mobile homes provided by the Alabama Baptist State Convention into a new $350,000 facility.
According to Tingle, Hubbert had been attending Trinity Baptist since childhood. “Katrina Hubbert had been calling me regularly for over three months to discuss various personal problems, and I tried to encourage her through the Scriptures,” said Tingle.
Neither Tingle nor the congregation was prepared for the news he received. “She (Hubbert) had said for two months that there was something that she needed to tell me. I was shocked when she called me and confessed setting the fire,” said Tingle. “The congregation had suspected that pranksters were involved because the night before the fire, members discovered overturned pews and a broken window.”
Tingle and his wife drove Hubbert to the sheriff’s office where she turned herself in. “There wasn’t any conversation on the way to the sheriff’s office, and she did not offer any explanation at any time,” said Tingle. “Hubbert was allowed one person to be present while she was questioned at the sheriff’s office. She asked if I would go with her, and I did,” Tingle said.
The Trinity congregation began praying for the arsonist the first Sunday after the fire. Tingle had told church members that it was their duty to pray for them and forgive them.
“As far as I know, when we moved into the new sanctuary, the congregation had forgiven the unknown arsonist,” Tingle said. “Now that we know that it was one of our own, it is very hard to understand, but we still need to forgive her.”
(TAB)
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