Berean Independent Baptist Church in Fort Ashby, West Virginia, caught fire sometime in the early morning hours on March 16. Pastor Richard Riley was notified about 4:30 a.m. that the church was on fire. When he arrived, firefighters were on the scene, and the only information available was that the entire church building was being deemed a total loss.
Head deacon Larry Deitz is overseeing the damage assessment. He will be meeting with the fire department about the cause of the blaze, as well as the church’s insurance provider to determine their coverage and any deductibles.
Please join in praying and/or financially supporting Regular Baptist Builders Club’s Help Up ministry. Both Riley and Deitz welcome prayer from GARBC sister churches and are encouraged to know there are brothers and sisters in Christ who are concerned.
A nearby GARBC church, Calvary Baptist in Cresaptown, Maryland, is no stranger to destruction and the importance of Regular Baptist Builders Club. Pastor Bruce McBride remembers in 2014 when his church flooded. Regular Baptist Builders Club, he says, saved their ministry. McBride has already encouraged his congregation to show their care to the Fort Ashby church. He wrote to his church,
I want our church people to be able to reach out to these hurting people and meet with them tonight for prayer meeting at 7 PM in their fellowship hall out behind their church building. The fellowship hall was untouched. You are welcome to attend with me. Let’s rally with this sister church and show we care.
“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12, 13).
