After a fire damaged one of the nation’s largest Southern Baptist megachurches in 2024, Hobby Lobby is stepping in to help repair its historic sanctuary.
First Baptist Dallas, a 16,000-member church established in 1868, experienced a four-alarm fire in July 2024 that partially collapsed the chapel, which was built in 1890. The 1,200-seat sanctuary was nearly completely destroyed, though no injuries or deaths resulted from the fire. The estimated cost of rebuilding is estimated to cost about $127 million, with insurance covering about $100 million.
Pastor Robert Jeffress, who served on President Donald Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board, revealed in a Dec. 7 sermon that Hobby Lobby CEO David Green approached him to donate $7 million toward the project. The church had previously raised $5 million, and another family in the church is reportedly donating $7 million as well…