By Carrie Brown McWhorter
The Alabama Baptist
A fire at Albertville’s LifePoint Church on Feb. 7 destroyed the church’s education building but was contained before it spread to the sanctuary.
Albertville Fire and Rescue Chief Brad Hix told local media outlets that the fire, which was reported to officials a little after 8 p.m., was contained in about two hours, but the roof of the building collapsed. No one was in the building when the fire started, and no injuries were reported.
In a Facebook video, Quinton Williams, co-lead pastor at LifePoint, in Marshall Baptist Association, said the fire was contained to the children’s building. The main auditorium was mostly free of smoke damage, Williams said.
However, the church will combine its normal 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. worship services on Feb. 10 into a single service at 10 a.m. at the Albertville Fine Arts Center at Albertville High School.
The Alabama Fire Marshal’s office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local fire officials are investigating the cause of the fire, which Hix said is protocol.
“Any time we have a church or a religious building, that’s standard protocol to notify those agencies,” Hix told local media outlets.
Williams expressed gratitude to those who had come to the church in the aftermath of the fire to pray near the building that gave church members so many incredible memories.
“It just lets you know how much you love your LifePoint family,” he said. “So many kids that have had an incredible time learning about God in that building. … So many times men and women have sat in those rooms [during Celebrate Recovery meetings] and shared their hearts with each other.
“God gave us that building, allowed us to have 13 years of incredible memories in that building and he’ll give us something next,” Williams said.
Matt Brooks, co-lead pastor at LifePoint, told local media that the fire would not affect the Not Alone Conference on mental health, scheduled for Feb. 22–23. (For more information on the conference, click here.)
Room in the Inn, a local ministry that provides a warming shelter and other resources for the homeless, is housed in the building that was destroyed. The ministry’s day program will be held at another location and is collecting supplies to replace those lost in the fire, including paper plates, cups, paper towels, toilet paper, washcloths and laundry detergent.
Williams said the church exists not for buildings or property but to show the love of Christ, and that’s what LifePoint will continue to do.
“Whether we have a building or don’t have a building … we will share the love of Christ continuously,” Williams said.
For updates on LifePoint service times and locations, visit the church’s Facebook page, LifePoint Church, Albertville.
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