|
Members vow to rebuild church following fire |
|
|
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
 Pastor Art DeAscentis holds a burned Bible that was found among the debris after a fire destroyed the Truth Tabernacle church at Stonehedge Trail off Zuber Road in Salem. DeAscentis said the congregation wants to rebuild the church on the same property. By Matt Burks
Courier Staff It was a long, difficult day for Pastor Art DeAscentis as he looked over the smoldering, blackened wood and metal remains of the 25-year-old Salem church that he called his second home.
“It has been a very demanding and very emotional day,” he said Tuesday.
“A few of the members of the church came here and shed a few tears. There were a lot of good times shared here.”
Among the rubble, several hymnals and a few Bibles were saved from the fire at the Truth Tabernacle church at 8633 Stonehedge Trail, where DeAscentis had been preaching to about 50 members for the past 20 years. Although visibly shaken and tired, he said with confidence that he plans to rebuild the church at the same location.
“God is not done with us yet,” he said.
About 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, while DeAscentis was working at his business, Custom Alarm Systems in Little Rock, he said his wife Janet called to tell him the news: An alarm had gone off inside the church, notifying both the DeAscentis family and the Salem Fire Department that there was a fire inside the church. The Salem Fire Department was the first responder to the scene, but its members soon needed the help of fellow firefighters from both Benton and Bryant.
“The Salem firefighters I believe were able to get inside the church at the beginning of the fire, but they soon had to come back out for safety reasons,” said Battalion Chief Chris Spruell of the Bryant Fire Department. “Once the fire got into the attic, it just took over [the building] very fast.”
The Saline County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire along with the area fire departments. Officials are saying it is too soon to know much about how the fire started, or how much in damages the fire caused.
“It is too early to tell how it happened,” Spruell said. “It appears the fire might have started in the kitchen in the back of the church, but it is still too early to tell.”
When he arrived at the scene Tuesday morning, DeAscentis, 45, saw a horde of firefighters from Benton, Bryant and Salem all fighting together to put out the flames. As he stood near the church, looking over the smoke, flames and the water pouring from the fire trucks, he saw a sign of hope: A rainbow had formed where he and fellow church members were standing, and it seemed to illuminate the church. One member of the church told DeAscentis that it might be a sign; he confidently replied, “Yes,” and then said he would rebuild the church.
“We were planning on building or adding to the building we had on the 2.7 acres we have here, because it was getting close to full in the congregation” DeAscentis said. “We had already planned on building for the future, and I guess we’ll get a head start on that now.”
For now, his church will meet at the First Pentecostal Church at 4200 Arkansas 5 North in Bryant for both the morning and evening services, starting this Sunday, Feb. 24. He said that First Pentecostal’s Pastor Jerry Whitley has agreed to allow Truth Tabernacle’s members to hold services in one of the buildings at First Pentecostal.
“I talked to Brother Whitley, and he said we could use one of their buildings until we figure something out,” DeAscentis said. “We’ll meet there this Sunday for now, and I haven’t gotten the message to all the members yet, but we’ll make sure they know. We’ll have to wait until the investigation is complete and wait until we find out about our insurance until we find out about anything permanent.”
Before leaving the site of what used to be a fixture in Salem, DeAscentis praised the community for its support. He also said his congregation should have faith that they will once again have their place of worship on the same grounds.
“The [Salem] community has been really good to me today,” he said. “They’ve come up to me and said |
Razorbacks