Rehobeth Baptist Church is not a building, but a
family of people. Recently, our church family experienced
a great loss.
At approximately 2 a.m. on February 3, 2006, the
unthinkable happened. The volunteer firefighters
in our community, many of whom are members of Rehobeth
Baptist, received a call about a fire in progress.
On that foggy Friday morning, the volunteer firefighters,
as well as other congregants alerted to the flames,
arrived just in time to see our church building
fully ablaze and collapsing into smoldering ruin.
The wood-framed building was reduced to a pile of
smoking rubble in a matter of minutes.
The evidence collected so far suggests that arsonists
set fire to the building. Not only was Rehobeth
Baptist destroyed, but four other small, rural Baptist
churches within a 10 mile radius were either burned
to the ground or heavily damaged.
"Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
(Matthew 16:18)
Church ties run deep, with several generations of
the same families setting their bedrock of faith in
Rehobeth Baptist. Despite the loss of our building,
Rehobeth Baptist Church is alive and strong.
(click
to enlarge)
We count among our blessings the fact that our fellowship hall was spared from any damage. At present, we are able to use the fellowship hall for our worship and ministries.
We ask for your thoughts and prayers during this time.
The process of rebuilding will be long and arduous.
The State of Alabama and the Alabama Baptist Association,
along with several members of the community and surrounding
areas, have graciously donated funds to our rebuilding
efforts. However, in order to restore the church building
completely and to refurnish the interior of our new
building (with carpet pews, hymnals, and such) we
are in need of additional financial support. If you
are interested in donating to the Rehobeth Baptist
Church Building Fund, please visit our Donations
page.
Links to News Coverage:
CNN (February 8, 2006): Church
blazes 'No. 1 priority' for federal agency
CNN (February 3, 2006): Arson
suspected in church fires
Fox News (February 04, 2006): Alabama
Churches Set Ablaze (Video
Coverage)
Thank you to News Media, Radio Stations, Blog Owners: We would like to thank everyone in the news and online that have shared our story and wished us well. Rebuilding will be a long process, but it is good to hear your thoughts and prayers.
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