Crowley church expects to rise from ashes

CROWLEY—After First Baptist Church in Crowley’s youth building burned Nov. 16, Pastor Joel McCoy offered a message of hope from Isaiah 61:3. He told the church God will raise a thing of beauty from the ashes.

The youth building at First Baptist Church in Crowley, which burned Nov. 16, also was home to the church’s quilt ministry, which provides handmade lap blankets to patients at hospitals. Those were all lost in the fire.The fire damaged the building so badly it must be razed. The building was more than 50 years old and constructed as education space for adults. The new building will be tailored for youth.

That does not mean the building that burned will not be missed, McCoy said. The building even predates the congregation’s present location. It was moved from the church’s previous site and then bricked. Many of the congregation’s members experienced significant spiritual milestones within its walls.

No one hurt

But McCoy insisted: “It was just a building. No one was hurt, and no one was in the building. That’s something we are very thankful for.”

McCoy was travelling on the morning of the fire. He was taking his father-in-law, Gerald Marsh, to preach the sermon commemorating First Baptist Church in Nocona’s 125th anniversary.

“Nocona is where I was baptized and called to preach, so it was very exciting for me to be there, but it was tempered by the news of the fire,” he acknowledged.

The church received numerous letters from the community following the fire.

“It’s been pretty amazing. The first letter was from someone in the community who said they passed by the fire on their way to church and that they were praying for us. They also included a $50 check,” McCoy recalled. The church has received numerous checks from other churches in Crowley, as well as from individuals, he added.

Three alarms

The fire started about 8 a.m. near the building’s furnace. The fire grew to three alarms, with the Crowley Fire Department receiving assistance from fire units in Everman, Edgecliff Village, Forest Hills, Joshua and Kennedale.

The fire marshal cancelled all church services for the day.

Since the fire, the youth have met in church’s community life center.

The church already has received an insurance check and hopes to have a new building ready to use in nine months to a year, McCoy said.