UPDATE: 12/12/19 (3:00PM) — Church members and the pastor gather outside the church this morning to mourn the loss of their home.
“It’s definitely a home. I grew up here. My whole 44 years this has been my church…I never dreamed of being a pastor in the church, but this is where God brought me and we have people who’ve been here 60, 70 years or more,” said Damian Wilson, Pastor of China Grove Church.
The church has served the Grambling community for over 100 years.
“We’ve been here for a long time, but you know we get to put our own stamp on this new building–it’s gonna be a new building. We’re gonna put up a new building. We’re gonna move forward. This is not gonna stop us,” said Wilson.
Church members say they are ready to move forward and build a new building in the future.
“Fire is something that once it burns up, then new things grow out of it and so a new church is gonna grow and it’s gonna be a better church than there ever was,” said Wilson.
Grambling, Louisiana (KTVE/KARD)(12/12/19)— China Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Grambling is burned down overnight.
According to Pastor Damian Wilson, he received a call about 2 A.M. saying the church was ‘engulfed in flames’.
We spoke to members of the church about this horrific event, and they say they are devastated by this loss, as China Grove was a historical landmark in their community.
Pastor Wilson says they were gearing up for their annual ‘Christmas at the Grove’ celebration, and right now, all this seems unreal.
He also states that once they have more information from the fire marshal’s office, they plan to begin the process to rebuild.
We have a crew on the scene and will update this story as more information becomes available.
