MAXTON — Like a Phoenix from the ashes, parishioners at Sandy Grove Baptist Church see a devastating fire on Thursday as a fresh start for the historic church.
The church located on Deangelo Road, not far from the Scotland County line, caught fire Thursday morning.
Hattie Bridges, along with many members of the 132-year-old church, were at the scene Thursday to see what little remained of the structure. Along with the building, a 100-year-old organ and several irreplaceable photographs were lost.
Bridges, who serves as an administrator at the church, said she refused to see consider the fire a calamity.
“We’re at a loss, but the Lord will lead the way, this isn’t a tragedy it’s a new beginning,” she said.
The cause of the fire is still undetermined, according to primary investigator Austin Warren with the State Bureau of Investigation. The blaze began at about 7 a.m. and took several hours to extinguish. No one was inside the church at the time of the fire.
“The fire fully engulfed the building,” Warren said.
The investigation is a joint effort between the State Bureau of Investigation, the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office and Robeson County Fire Marshal.
Queheel Fire Department was the primary responders, but was assisted by Prospect, Red Springs, and Smith fire departments as well as Stewartsville Fire Department of Scotland County.
“Due to the material it was made out of, it didn’t take long to go up in flames,” said Queheel Fire Captain Tyler Wood..
Parishioner Frankie Hall said the lights in the church flickered during Bible study the night before, but he did not think much about it.
Hall added that the church has been a big part of his life. It was where he worshiped since he was a child and got married there to wife, Jennie. He became a deacon at Sandy Grove in 1981.
“We‘ve got a lot of memories, we’ve got priceless things in that church,” Hall said. “I know that God has a plan for us, we just have to keep trusting him.”
Interim pastor Michael Ellerbee expressed shock that the church was gone, but said members will rebuild. He said the church is looking for other locations to hold worship services.
”It may look bad now but you know in the end it’s going to be alright,” Ellerbee said. “It’s a healing process that we have to go through now as we pull together as a church family, but I trust in the Lord that everything will be alright.”
Minnie Pipkin Miller, who raised four children in the church, agreed.
“I just had to cry,” Miller said. “I thought about my mother, she lived into her 90s and she was the mother of the church when she died. My brother is a deacon. This is our home, but God is in control.”
