Church members continue to grieve massive fire at historic First Baptist Dallas sanctuary
DALLAS – Heartbreak and grief continue for a Dallas church congregation after a massive fire destroyed their historic sanctuary.
The sight of devastation and the smell of smoke remains outside First Baptist Dallas one day after a four-alarm fire tore through the original sanctuary. Dallas Fire-Rescue continues monitoring hot spots on Saturday.
The sounds of fire engines and the sight of stunned onlookers filled the heart of downtown Dallas Saturday morning. Executive pastor Dr. Ben Lovvorn said the building appears to be a total loss.
"It's hard to see," Lovvorn said.
Church members are coming to terms with the surreal images of the charred shell that holds so many memories.
"My family's been in this church for five generations over a hundred years. I was raised in the sanctuary, trusted in Christ in that room, got engaged, got married there, so it's a special place," Lovvorn said with tears in his eyes.
"Just heartbreak, it's really heartbreak for the loss for the place of the memories, the beautiful moments we had, and the reverence we had in there," Sari McCoy said.
McCoy has been coming to the church since she was a baby. The sanctuary was built in 1890, and the church used it to worship until it moved into the new building in 2013.
"Really, what a loss, but at the same time, I have mixed emotions that no one was hurt and that the church is still intact because the church is the people," McCoy said.
Dallas Fire Rescue believes the fire started in the basement of the sanctuary around 6 p.m. Friday. The ATF is helping with the investigation and is trying to figure out how the fire started.
"We move forward, and God has his hand in everything," McCoy said.
The scorched walls overflow with more than a century of memories the congregation plans to build on as they lean on each other for support.
First Baptist Dallas will hold one service at 11 a.m. Sunday. It will be held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center's main arena. Free parking is available. No childcare will be provided. The service will be streamed live at icampus.firstcampus.org.
"We'd encourage everybody to join us and to come worship with us," Lovvorn said.
Church leaders must provide a structural engineering report Sunday to determine whether the building needs to be demolished.
