ALBANY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — As the sun shone over the steeple of Elijah Missionary Baptist Church on Monday, its brown brick facade seemed untouched. From the rear, however, the devastation — courtesy of an all consuming fire — remained evident. From collapsed brick reminiscent of a war zone, to exposed support beams, and broken stained glass windows, the burned out shell of a building still holds importance for the community.
Fire destroys historical South End Church
“First of all it represents the presence of God, and secondly it represents help for… community. It’s…the church has always been the nucleus of every community. Particularly here because, since we’ve been here seven years even during the COVID, we were about the only church that was open for funerals and all the other pastors, their members passed, but they brought and they did the service here” said Bishop Avery Comithier.
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And here , is where we found the bishop Monday morning, standing watch over the building he once called home. From the doors of the still intact rectory, church members carried out whatever little items survived, bag by bag.