Family Life

12.15.10 | Sarah Harnisch

 A 170-year-old church in Friendship, New York burned to the ground Wednesday. The Bible Baptist Church on Main Street in Friendship caught fire around 4 in the morning and was completely fully engulfed in flames by 5 a.m. Firefighters say they believe it was an electrical malfunction that started the fire. The church was built in 1843; 20 years before the Civil War.
   Family Life's Bob Price spoke with the church's pastor, Duane Broadwell. He said the church is the body of Christ, and it's hard to loose. The inside was so beautiful people would come by and walk around. There were 20-foot-high ceilings, heavy woodwork, and a huge bell in the steeple that was cast in 1852. Their missions money was kept in a safe in the church, and that safe was recovered-- safe and sound. But there were so many things that were lost: a baby grand piano, 10-thousand dollars in new renovations and a video projection system, and historic stain glass windows that melted. Broadwell says he was the last one in the church around 9 p.m., and a parishoner drove by around 1 a.m. and the church looked normal. They did have insurance on the building. This is a link to the church's website, where you can see a photo of the building that was lost.

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