Overcoming adversity: Trinity Fellowship members plan to carry on after fire destroys sanctuary
Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2007
Firefighters scurried around an icy parking lot Wednesday as snow flurries began to decorate the sky, while 100 feet away about 30 people gathered in a gym, exchanging emotional hugs and a little cheer as the last plumes of smoke rose from a fire-ravaged church sanctuary.
Trinity Fellowship Assembly of God Church in Fayetteville lost its main house of worship, but on the other side of the flameeaten building on old brick cross still stood.
"All the pastors will be fighting to see who gets to preach first so they can use that in their sermon," church member Tracie Branten said.
The Fayetteville Fire Department responded a little before 6: 30 a.m. to a 911 call about a fire at 1100 Rolling Hills Drive, said Battalion Chief Terry Lawson. Engines one and four arrived at the scene only to find the 14, 000-square-foot sanctuary fully engulfed in flames.
"We went into defense mode and set up two master streams to contain the fire," Lawson said.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the sanctuary and the adjacent offices.
Lawson said the sanctuary and offices were a total loss, but the older sanctuary located west of the destroyed one remained intact. No one was inside the building at the time of the fire, and there were no casualties. The cause of the fire is unknown and is under investigation with assistance from some additional experts, Lawson said. "The Fire Marshal's office has called the (Bureau of ) Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF ) to assist in their investigation," Lawson said. "They have the expertise and the resources we need to assist with the investigation."
Lawson said the ATF was called due to the size of the church and the work it will take to do the investigation.
Trinity Fellowship Senior Pastor Darren Rogers was on the scene early. He was disappointed the building was lost, he said, but a church is a lot more than just a building.
"It's about so much more than a building. It's about the people that are part of it," Rogers said. "We'll rally together and work through this."
The fire spread fast, but word about the fire spread just as fast throughout the 400-strong Trinity Fellowship congregation. By 10 a. m., a church committee was meeting in the gym and youth center across the parking lot to figure out what to do next.
The church was planning to have its Wednesday night services still, but weather forced their cancellation.
Shannon Branten, associate pastor of Trinity Fellowship, said the church will have its normal 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. services on Sunday in the gym.
"We just need to pick up the pieces and keep moving," Branten said.
The church has been around since the 1960 s, and the sanctuary was built as an addition in 1973, Branten said.
The fire did take its toll financially. It destroyed expensive sound equipment, projectors, computers and a $ 40, 000, 9-foot grand piano, Branten said.
But church members remain in good spirits.
"There was a room in the sanctuary that I had been talking to people about cleaning out. It doesn't need cleaning anymore," member Debbie Wagoner said with a laugh.
Darrel Rogers - the associate pastor of Trinity Fellowship two years ago and the father of Darren Rogers - answered the question of why something bad could happen to a church that does good things.
"I have to stand on the (Bible ) and say that all things happen for good," Darrel Rogers said. "We can't question God in what happens. (The congregation ) will just regroup because it's just another bump in the road."
Branten said that in just one day the community has already surrounded the church and its members.
"The community has been awesome," Branten said. "We have food stacked up here, and places are donating sound equipment and projectors."
Don Hutchings, pastor of Evangel Temple Assembly of God in Fort Smith said he heard about the fire at 7 a.m. and drove to Fayetteville to lend his support.
"My church is going to take an offering tonight to send, and we're going to be there when volunteers are needed to clean up and rebuild," Hutchings said. "That's when you don't want to be alone."
The Assemblies of God Denomination has already sent representatives to assess the situation and see how the national and regional offices can help. The church also had fire insurance that could lead to some financial aid following the investigation.
Darrel Rogers said he was confident that whatever the church faced over the next few weeks, it would be OK.
"They got a good strong church, and they'll just keep going," he said.
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