(CP) Pastor Robert Jeffress said former President Donald Trump sent him a note after he was informed that the historic sanctuary of First Baptist Dallas was engulfed in flames.
“This historic sanctuary that burned to the bottom was the positioning that presidents visited after they got here to Dallas. Woodrow Wilson, Gerald Ford, President George H. W. Bush were all worshipers in that sanctuary,” Jeffress told CBS affiliate KTVTÂ in regards to the 134-year-old church constructing in downtown Dallas that was reported on fire just after 6 p.m. Central time Friday evening.
Trump, who previously spoke on the church on Dec. 19, 2021, sent Jeffress a note and “offered his help to do anything he could,” Jeffress added.
When asked if he thought the church was attacked because someone was angered by his vocal support for the previous president, Jeffress responded that he didn’t consider there was any connection.
“I don’t think my support for President Trump has anything to do with this hearth,” he maintained.
On Saturday, fire investigators were joined by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI to research the explanation for the hearth.
When asked if arson was suspected as a explanation for the hearth, Dallas Fire-Rescue Interim Chief Justin Ball said Friday evening that investigators would should determine that because the cause was yet unknown.
Ball said it appeared the hearth “can have began within the basement and moved as much as the second floor” where firefighters first battled the blaze. As many as 100 firefighters responded to the four-alarm fire. “Thank God [there were] no casualties,” Ball added.
The basement housed the church’s library where the church’s historic records were stored.
“We’re not going to let those flames have the ultimate say,” Jeffress told KTVT. “The truth is, the church shouldn’t be made up of wood and brick and mortars; it’s made up of the people who find themselves in that worship center.”
First Baptist Dallas had just wrapped up its Vacation Bible School, which was attended by 2,000 children, and used a portion of the historic sanctuary for a few of its events. The indisputable fact that the hearth began after VBS ended and nobody was injured was “miraculous protection by God,” Jeffress said.
The church announced Saturday morning that because smoke affected newer areas of the church in-built 2013, Sunday worship could be held as one service on the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center at 11 a.m. local time.
On Saturday, the Dallas Fire Department told church staff that what stays of the historic a part of the church in-built 1890 may have to be torn down since it has no “structural integrity” and may have to be demolished soon in order that the road will be reopened to traffic.
The red brick constructing, often known as the church’s old sanctuary, was in-built 1890. It was the church’s home before the recent $130 million worship center was in-built 2013.
“We have experienced a fireplace within the Historic Sanctuary. To our knowledge, nobody is hurt or injured, and we thank God for His protection. He is sovereign even in probably the most difficult times,” Jeffress wrote on X Friday night. “‘And we all know that God causes all things to work together for good to those that love God, to those that are called in response to His purpose.’ — Romans 8:28.”
In an interview with Fox 4, Jeffress said that the sanctuary was the positioning of many personal events, including his baptism when he was 6, and ordination for the ministry at 21.
“It holds numerous memories,” Jeffress said. “We thank God no person was hurt. … I’m grateful that the church shouldn’t be brick and mortar, its people. The people of God will endure. First Baptist Dallas will endure. We thank so a lot of our friends across the country who’re praying for us immediately.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who noted that world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham was once a member of the church, prolonged his prayers to its pastors and members in a post on X, adding, “I’m confident God’s Light will shine down on First Baptist.”
While the late Graham didn’t reside in Dallas, he was a member of the church from 1953 until 2008, when he moved his membership closer to his home in North Carolina, The Dallas Morning News previously reported.
Denny Burk, the director of the Center for Gospel and Culture at Boyce College of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky, wrote on XÂ that he and his wife were members of the church before moving to Louisville. He called the hearth a “grievous loss.”
“The church had back-to-back historic pastorates in the 20th century. Two pastors who each ministered for 50 years. Two pastors in 100 years! George W. Truett followed by W.A. Criswell. Both of them preached in that constructing. Both of them towering figures within the SBC.”
