A fire destroyed a Beaver County church early Saturday morning. Several fire departments responded to the fire at the First Baptist Church at the corner of Fifth Street and Penn Avenue in Midland.
The fire started at about 12:30 a.m.
“You could look through the windows and see each pew go [up in flames] and be engulfed in flames and then the window blew out,” church member Sidney James said. Another church is offering the congregation a place to worship on Sunday.
“We serve a god who takes messes and makes a message out of it, so we certainly are leaning and depending on our faith during this time,” Pastor Cordell Fountain said.
“It’s an institution here and there’s just no words, sir. None except that we will remain vigilant and we will recover,” church member Joanne Steward said.