The building housing St. Luke’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was destroyed by a fire in the early morning hours of February 17, along with the church library and Pope Hall (a fellowship space). Other buildings on the campus, including its K-8 school, were unaffected.
“Despite the flames that consumed buildings, our faith remains strong and our spirits unbroken,” the Rev. Bryan Owen, the church’s rector, said in a message to parishioners on the church’s website. Fire investigators have not yet determined a cause.
The fire started about 1 a.m. Saturday and quickly was reported by a police officer who saw smoke coming from the building. By the time firefighters arrived, the nave was engulfed in flames, and as they battled the fire, part of the building collapsed. None of the 75 firefighters on the scene were hurt, according to a press release.
After the fire was out, a demolition company arrived to begin removing debris.
The church building, which served a congregation of about 1,500 baptized members, was built in 1964.
Louisiana Bishop Shannon Duckworth and her husband arrived at St. Luke’s just hours after the fire was discovered, as did the Very Rev. Tommy Dillon, rector of St. Margaret’s and dean of the Baton Rouge Deanery, Owen said.
On the morning of February 18, parishioners gathered in the school’s gymnasium for a Sunday Eucharist, and the bishop assured St. Luke’s members the diocese would assist them with recovery.
“We are here with you for the long haul,” Duckworth said, adding that she looks forward to consecrating a rebuilt St. Luke’s church.
Because of the fire, “Good Friday has come early this year,” Owen said in his sermon. Christians are asked to give up something for Lent, “but this is ridiculous,” he joked.
While it’s true that the church isn’t a building but instead are the people who worship there, the building is “a sacred space that has held precious memories,” he said, and even amid that feeling of Good Friday, “the joy and hope of Easter shine.”
Two other Episcopal churches in Baton Rouge — St. Margaret’s and St. James — loaned vestments and altar items to St. Luke’s for Sunday’s worship. Many of the church’s silver altar items were recovered, and Owen showed a processional cross that survived the fire but was warped and bent by the heat. Photos on the church website showed several statues that had been retrieved.
The columbarium, which houses ashes of people who have died, was intact and unharmed, Owen said.
Before and after the service, members of Broadmoor Baptist Church ran shuttles between the church and a nearby parking lot, where worshipers were asked to park. Worshipers were asked to bring any personal copies of the Book of Common Prayer, since those in the church were destroyed.
On Sunday evening, Owen shared on his Facebook page that a needlepoint stole his mother had made for him had been recovered from the church rubble. He said the stole “smells of smoke and is darkened by soot. But the tiny stitches are a visible sign of the renewal that is to come.”
The Diocese of Louisiana has set up a webpage for donations to assist the rebuilding effort.
