Two suspects jailed in Orange church arson

Posted: 3/31/06

Two suspects jailed in Orange church arson

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

ORANGE—West Orange authorities jailed two juvenile suspects in connection with the March 5 arson of McDonald Memorial Baptist Church in Orange.

The two teenaged boys allegedly broke through a glass door and set a series of fires inside the church’s sanctuary. Investigators believe the boys had been on a vandalism spree, spray-painting satanic symbols and other graffiti on houses and businesses along the street, before they broke into the church, Pastor Danny Gilliam said.

“The inside of the sanctuary had so much smoke damage that we’ll probably have to tear out everything,” Gilliam said. “They destroyed at least a dozen pews, probably damaged the piano and organ beyond repair and broke out 40 individual panes of stained glass.”

No evidence points to McDonald Memorial as a specific target, he noted.

“It appears they were just coming down the street with their spray-paint cans, and our church was on the corner—the first one they came across,” Gilliam said.

Arsonists appeared to set fire specifically to a large Bible at the front of the sanctuary and attempted to torch the piano, he noted.

“It’s been a headache, and it hurt a lot of our people” to see their worship center desecrated, Gilliam said. “They had to work through some anger, but we’re coming together and moving beyond it. Our people really are starting to pray for these guys who did it.”

The church has not cancelled any services or ministries, he added. Worship services are being held in the gymnasium of the church’s family life center.

Central Baptist Church in Port Arthur allowed McDonald Memorial to borrow padded chairs, First Baptist Church in Orange provided a temporary sound system and the Baptist General Convention of Texas gave the church a grant to buy sound equipment.

“It looks like these boys may have ruined their lives, but they didn’t accomplish anything if they were trying to disrupt our church. We haven’t missed a beat,” Gilliam said.

The church will celebrate its 75th anniversary April 30 as scheduled, and Vacation Bible School will be held as usual this summer, he noted. The fire caused only one serious disruption to the church calendar.

“I had to meet with a bride who has a July wedding scheduled to tell her, ‘Unless you want to get married in the gym wearing tennis shoes, you might want to think about changing locations,’” Gilliam said.