Pastor Robert Jeffress, leader of the historic First Baptist Church in Dallas, said former President Donald Trump reached out after the church’s historic sanctuary burned down.
On Friday shortly after 6 p.m., Dallas Fire and Rescue received a call about a fire at the church’s historic sanctuary, which had been in use since the 1890s. The fire eventually grew to a four-alarm blaze that took more than three hours to extinguish. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed in the fire.
‘If the SBC had a Notre Dame it would be FBC Dallas. This is heartbreaking.’
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and the investigation into the cause — which includes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — is ongoing.
But Pastor Jeffress, who is an ardent Trump supporter, told local media that he doesn’t believe his support for the former president is behind the fire.
More importantly, he said Trump is offering his support in the wake of the devastating fire.
“I don’t believe my support for President Trump has anything to do with this fire,” Jeffress told KTVT-TV. “I did receive a nice note from the president, who has spoken here before at our church. He offered his help to do anything he could.”
First Baptist Church Dallas was founded in 1868. Billy Graham was once a member, and the historic sanctuary has received visits from multiple presidents, including Woodrow Wilson, Gerald Ford, and George H.W. Bush. Today, about 16,000 Christians are members at FBC Dallas.
The significance of the fire for Baptists cannot be overstated. Clint Pressley, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, remarked that the church’s historic sanctuary is the SBC’s equivalent of Notre Dame.
“If the SBC had a Notre Dame it would be FBC Dallas. This is heartbreaking. Praying the Lord is merciful,” Pressley said.
But unlike the Notre Dame cathedral after a fire torched that historic sanctuary five years ago, FBC Dallas’ historic sanctuary may have to be torn down if engineers determine the fire compromised the structural integrity of the building.
Despite the bad news, Jeffress is maintaining a hopeful Christian attitude.
“As tragic as the loss of this old sanctuary is, we are grateful that the church is not bricks and wood but composed of over 16,000 people who are determined more than ever before to reach the world for the gospel of Christ,” he said in a statement.
Plus, the pastor is thanking God because thousands of students had been in the historic sanctuary not long before the fire broke out.
“That’s a miraculous protection by God to spare not only those children but any lost lives,” he told WTVT.
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