c. 2006 Religion News Service

ALICEVILLE, Ala. _ Ash remained on the floor of Dancy First Baptist Church. Yellow police tape rolled and fluttered in the parking lot of the Pickens County congregation, one of 10 Alabama churches damaged or destroyed by fire in recent weeks.

So some of Dancy’s members spent part of their first Sunday (Feb. 12) since the blaze at another Baptist church, singing of God’s amazing grace and speaking of forgiveness.

“If they know that we’re praying for them, maybe they’ll have a change of heart,” said the Rev. Walter Hawkins Jr., pastor of Dancy First Baptist Church.

Jacqueline Woods worshipped with fellow Dancy members at New Antioch Baptist Church, an Aliceville church where the pastor invited Dancy members to join them Sunday. Woods, 21, said she forgives the person or persons who damaged her church. But if given the opportunity, she would ask them why they took such action. “If they needed love, we would have given it to them,” she said.

Arson is the leading cause of church fires, and is the cause of the fire that gutted Dancy First Baptist on Feb. 7, authorities say. Fire officials and insurers say arson fires are fairly common at all types of houses of worship, and that they are motivated by vandalism and revenge, along with efforts to conceal other crimes, such as burglaries, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

As the investigation of Alabama church fires continues, the Rev. Napoleon Jones, pastor of New Antioch Baptist, urged members not to look back, but to move forward.

“When you’re battered, seek God’s divine directions,” Jones said. “He gives us the confidence that we need to face all of our tomorrows. … Even though you might have lost a building, you haven’t lost the promises of God.” Henry Daniels, a Dancy member attending the service in Aliceville, said his congregation will rebuild _ no problem.

“It’s a blessing because it should bring the church together,” said Daniels, who lives in Tuscaloosa.

“We are still a church,” Hawkins said. “It doesn’t matter what building we are in.”

Saturday, the Rev. Glenn Harris, pastor of Spring Valley Baptist Church near Emelle, Ala., offered a similarly upbeat assessment.

“It could have been a lot worse,” said Harris, whose church was damaged but not destroyed in the recent string of fires. His congregation, he said, is determined to “continue to lift up the name of our Christ.”

Still, Lucy Lewis, a member of New Antioch Baptist, said Sunday that area residents are on the lookout. Authorities said they believe two white men are responsible for at least nine of the blazes, according to the Associated Press.

“We’re keeping our eyes open,” Lewis said.

C. Thomas Wright, executive director of missions for the Mobile Baptist Association, said in an e-mail last week that he had advised congregations in the area to take precautions for the protection of their facilities. “We are reminding our leaders that the Bible warns believers to `be wise as serpents and harmless as doves,”’ Wright said.

After worshipping at New Antioch Baptist, some of Dancy’s members went back to their charred church. Their sign remains out front, updated since the fire last week: “FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.”

MO/RB RNS END

(Kristen Campbell is the religion reporter for the Mobile Register in Mobile, Ala.)