Southeast Dallas congregation meets 2 days after devastating church fire
Pastor thankful despite devastating church fire
A far Southeast Dallas congregation gathered for services two days after a fire tore through its building. The pastor of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church was in his office preparing his sermon at the time but managed to get out safely. And he got a bit of good news about the building’s future.
DALLAS - Members of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church held services at a different location on Sunday following a devastating fire that damaged the church’s office building.
On Friday afternoon, Pastor Paul David Taylor was preparing his Sunday sermon when he smelled smoke inside the church offices.
"I called my wife and told her to pray because the building was on fire," he said.
Video from SKY 4 showed the intense flames and heavy smoke that filled the air.
1 firefighter injured as crews battle fire at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Dallas
Several firefighters are battling a blaze at the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in far southeast Dallas.
One firefighter was injured but is expected to recover.
The 85-year-old pastor was the only one inside the church at the time of the fire, and he made it out unharmed.
"I know he’s in control," he said. "The answer was, ‘I’m going to take care of it.’ And he did. So, we say thank you, Lord."
Pastor Taylor is counting his blessings that the church sanctuary connected to the offices was untouched by the fire.
Most of the books in his office were saved as well.
And the church found a new location for services on Sunday.
"The building is not the church. The congregation is the church. And even if there’s no building, they’d still be a church," said Bob Hoffman.
Hoffman has close ties to the church and was invited to preach to the congregation on Sunday evening.
"It was just a wonderful service, and I felt the spirit might be moving tonight," he said.
Most of the damage was to the roof of the church offices.
Pastor Taylor said an engineer walked through the building and deemed it stable, but it will need a new roof.
That’s another sign of hope for Pastor Taylor.
"Of course, all of the damage from all of the water and everything else, but what he’s trying to say is there’s hope there, too," he said.
Dallas Fire-Rescue said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Right now, it’s unclear when the church will be able to use the building again.