(RNS) As the congregation stood on dusty concrete floors and sang “Sweet, Sweet Spirit” from Baptist hymnals, Pastor Eddie Hughes slipped quietly outside the sanctuary of Ashby Baptist Church to cough and clear his throat.
“There’s still a lot of drywall dust,” he said, before ducking back in and climbing the rough plywood steps and onto the stage to deliver his Sunday sermon.
Church members offered soft apologies for the plywood stage and the dusty concrete. “We’ve got a lot of work left to do,” said parishioner Myrtle Fox.
The church is nearing completion on the red-brick building to replace the old church that was torched by arsonists four years ago. It was one of nine rural Alabama churches burned over five days in 2006, and is the last to finish rebuilding.
It has been an arduous journey, as the church met in modular buildings at the site of the fire, then struggled with what to build, how and where. It also changed pastors along the way.
“It took much longer than our church expected,” Hughes said. “We’ve heard a lot about `this is the last church to rebuild.’ It’s been a struggle keeping things together and getting to this point.”
Several churches targeted in the arsons, including Ashby, had to deal with leadership changes and disagreement about how to proceed after the fires. Hughes took over as pastor March 31, 2008.
“This last year’s been difficult, but there’s been a spirit of cooperation,” Hughes said. “Things are not exactly like each individual wanted it to be. Through compromise we’ve been able to get it done. No matter what happens, God is still in control. God was getting the circumstances and the people right for this.”
The three Birmingham-area college students convicted of arson — Matthew Lee Cloyd, now 24; Russell Lee DeBusk, 23; and Benjamin Nathan Moseley, 23 — are serving time in separate federal prisons.
“Most of the people have had a spirit of forgiveness from the beginning,” Hughes said. “That’s the past and we’ve been diligent to look toward the future. I believe out of that tragedy God has blessed us. There’s good things that can come out of this, as bad as it was.”
