A South Georgia church is picking up the pieces after a devastating fire. Douglas Christian Fellowship in Douglas, Georgia, was engulfed in flames during Wednesday night’s worship service.
"We were just doing normal things with the kids. We had about thirty kids in the back and about ten to twelve adults when the Youth Pastor came into their classroom and said that the church was on fire," said Andrea Thompson of the Children's Ministry.https://t.co/epdRa8M551 pic.twitter.com/xdSyhOkynv
— WGXA (@WGXAnews) February 3, 2022
The Church’s Livestream caught the realization of trouble in true time. The video depicts a woman singing at the front of the church before another stops her and points off camera toward the back of the building. People begin to leave before the stream is cut off, 16 minutes after it started.
Worship Gone Wrong
Congregants later caught a video of the church up in flames. A Facebook Live stream from DouglasNow.com showed firefighters working to extinguish the fire.
Coffee County Fire Department reported that thankfully the congregation noticed the fire in time to evacuate the building. There are no reported injuries.
Fire during service turns church to rubble in minutes https://t.co/Um5pGmx6OH
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 3, 2022
The Georgia State Fire Marshall has yet to release a statement on the cause of the fire. The local fire department declined to comment on the fire or its suspected origins to the local WSB-TV2 channel.
We are saddened to hear of reports of a fire at the Grade I listed St Mary’s Church, Beachamwell, a rare surviving example of a medieval, thatched-roofed church. We are liaising with the church and Local Authority and will look to support them. https://t.co/icnHMXpuPV
— Historic England (@HistoricEngland) February 3, 2022
If proved to be foul play the fire of Douglas Christian Fellowship would not be the first attack on churches around the country. Since the beginning of the Covid Pandemic, church vandalism has sky-rocketed in the United States and abroad.
Catholic activists are begging AG Merrick Garland to start taking action against the rise in church vandalism. https://t.co/NnxHHkVPep
— MediaResearchCenter (@theMRC) February 2, 2022
Persecution of the faith goes beyond physical destruction. Attacks on Christian doctrine and scriptural teaching are on the rise. This is as popular mega-churches turn away from a gospel message to preach instead of the religion of self-worship.
Only time will tell if Douglas Christian Fellowship is the victim of malicious intent or accident.
