FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) - Pastor Michael Timberlake Jr. said the members of the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church have been on a long journey since the church burned last year, but have never lost sight that “God is still in control.”
“We remember that we have to be prayerful about everything, and that things happen in His time,” said Timberlake.
The 133-year-old church located west of Florence on Gunwaleford Road was left in a heap of rubble after the early morning fire on July 1, 2016.
“We never got depressed,” said Brenda Reeder, a trustee and 50-year member of the church. “Building the church back is something we have been praying about since the day it burned.
“And now, it’s rising from the ashes.”
Work is underway on a new 8,400 square foot facility.
The foundation has been poured and the framing for the walls is well underway.
“Besides a few delays with the weather, everything is coming along,” said Lynn Persell of Persell Builders of Athens.
He said the majority of the framing is in place, and by the end of the week he expects the roof to be on.
“Our plan is to turn it over to them by the end of the summer, if not sooner,” Presell said.
The new church is not being built at the same location as the old church.
Reeder said trustees and church officials were able to swap property and purchase an additional acre from a local property owner.
“We didn’t have a lot of room at the other church and really no parking,” she said. “The new site, which is just down the road, will give us more room and more parking.”
Timberlake said the new facility will be very similar to the old church.
“We will have the sanctuary, plus classrooms and a large fellowship hall that can be divided into classrooms, if needed,” he said.
The congregation, which was organized in 1883 with the first building dating back to 1889, now averages about 100 each Sunday.
Timberlake said since the fire, the congregation has been meeting at Grace Funeral Home in Sheffield, and will continue to meet there until moving into the new church.
“We have had people to join since the fire, and we’ve baptized some. God has kept us moving right alone,” Timberlake said.
“We’re thankful for Grace, but we’re all looking forward to getting the church rebuilt and moving in. There is no place like home,” Reeder said.
Timberlake said the fire, which was ruled accidental, and the process of getting a new church built has been a lesson in “patience” and a lesson in “faith.”
“There was never any doubt in the congregation that we would build back,” he said. “God was in control, and kept us going in the right direction.”
Reeder said the old church held a lot of memories for the members.
“We’ll always have those memories, but now we’ll make some new ones,” she said.
“A new beginning, a new history, new memories. That’s what we will have when the new church is finished, thanks to God,” Timberlake said.
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