Fire Doesn’t Destroy Church Members Faith

January 1, 2010 is a day Reverend Bill Parr and Little Hope Baptist Church members will not soon forget. An early morning call that smoke was coming from the church, sent out 9-1-1 calls across the community.

Van Zandt County Fire Marshal Chuck Allen said the cause was "undetermined, but we believe everything will lead back to the surge protector in the fellowship hall."

The night before church members had gathered in the fellowship hall to watch the movie "Fireproof" and ring in the new year with fellowship and prayer.

Hours later that very room went up in smoke. Destroyed were the fellowship hall, Sunday school rooms and kitchen.

"It is my understanding the members left a little after 1 a.m.," Allen said.

Fire departments from South Van Zandt, Ben Wheeler and Canton were called to fight the blaze which was contained in the three areas. The church itself suffered only smoke and heat damage, Allen said.

Due to the size of the building, Allen called in assistance from Henderson County Fire Marshal John Holcomb.

"It’s hard to dig through all that by yourself and you definitely don’t want to miss anything," Allen said.

Also notified were the State Fire Marshal’s office and ATF.

While Allen was waiting for Holcomb, he received a call that an Athens area church was also on fire. The two fires, Allen said, are just coincidental.

"The new South Van Zandt Fire Department (in Canton) did a knock down, excellent job in saving the sanctuary," Allen said. "…They made an awesome stop on that fire."

Allen said since he has been fire investigator he is only aware of two other churches in the county which have suffered fires in the past. Those were Russell Memorial United Methodist Church in Wills Point, and Jackson Baptist Church near Whitton.

Organized in 1893, Little Hope Baptist Church members built their first sanctuary in 1894. The first church was moved to its current site in 1896. Then a second sanctuary was built in 1916, and replaced by the third and current sanctuary in 1954.

Long-time church member Bill G. Faglie helped build Little Hope Baptist Church in 1954, and recalled "pushing the wheel barrel and hammering nails" as he looked on Friday morning at the charred building.

"We will just start over," he said with great optimism in his voice. "Now we have a chance to build on and do some new things."

Church member Casey Lester said she and her husband moved to the area from Arlington several years ago, and after visiting a number of churches in the area she and her husband knew they had found their church home upon the first visit to Little Hope Baptist.

"It’s a wonderful church," Lester said.

"Me and my husband were driving around the area and I kept seeing the signs – Little Hope Baptist Church – and I told him I’m sick. How could anyone name a church Little Hope?" she said with a laugh. "We visited and I just knew. It’s a wonderful congregation."

"There is just something about this church," she said. "The minute we walked in, we knew we were home."

Lester, who has been teaching Sunday School at Little Hope Baptist Church for three and a half years, enjoys her Jabez Class and was eager to get inside Friday morning and see what could be salvaged from her classroom.

"We have been praying for revival," Lester said. "He (God) is in control."

"It is just a building, it’s not the body of Christ," Lester said of the church building.

One of the things salvaged from out of the youth rooms was a plastic collection jar which contained money that was being collected for a boy the students had adopted from India.

Parr, who has served as pastor of the church for nine years, and was called to the ministry more than 58 years ago, says he has no doubt their church will survive.

"The building is broken," Parr said. "But the church is great."

Recalling the events of the day, Parr said he received a call from a neighbor that there was smoke coming from the church. He called 9-1-1 and was told that several calls had come in about the fire and that help was on its way.

"At first your gut hurts and you feel bad," Parr said about his first reaction. "But you know your church is bigger than a building. We will not only cope, but win."

"It might be the spark, excuse the pun," Parr said with a smile, "that we need for a revival."

The church may be called Little Hope, but only by name, because there was an outpouring of church members and people from the community that stopped by to offer help when they rebuild. That alone would give anyone a lot of hope.

"It’s the biggest little church in the world," Parr added.