The woman convicted of setting fire inside the historic First Baptist Church in downtown Montgomery has now been sentenced.
It’s been nearly one year since an arsonist attempted to set fire to the historic church.
On September, 30, 2021 an arsonist tried to burn down Montgomery’s First Baptist Church. With extensive damage and expensive repairs ahead, Pastor Mark Bethea joined David Lamb on Alabama News Rising to discuss what the immediate plans are for his congregation and the surprising positives amidst a painful chapter.
A sworn statement by a federal agent says the woman showed up at services before the fire. It says she raised suspicions with odd actions and a comment about the “rich white men” who had led the congregation.
On January 19, 2019, an EF2 tornado hit parts of Wetumpka near downtown, damaging several businesses and homes, thankfully leaving no injuries or fatalities. The First Baptist Church and city police station were heavily damaged, forcing the police station to relocate. Among damaged was First Presbyterian Church which was destroyed. Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Jonathan Yarboro, says the city…
An event happening this weekend aims to get guns off the streets. Crimestoppers annual Gun BuyBack will be held Saturday at First Baptist Church in Montgomery. “This is just one of the options,” Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham says. “We really need to have options on the table to be able to help reduce the amount of gun violence that…
Tragedy struck an Alabama church last month when a bus full of people headed to do mission work crashed on an Atlanta highway leaving a 17-year-old girl dead. Since then the driver of that bus has been charged with second-degree homicide by vehicle. Now other churches are checking their safety protocols to make sure they’re safe when they take the…
