Arsonist's streak included one of Mississippi's oldest Black Lutheran churches

THIS WAS LIKE A HOME CHURCH AND IT BROUGHT FAMILIES TOGETHER. IT EDUCATED US. AND THIS WAS LIKE A VILLAGE. AND IT JUST HATE THAT THIS VILLAGE HAS BEEN DESTROYED, BUT IT’S GOING TO MOVE ON. A SOMBER DAY FOR MANY IN THE WEST JACKSON COMMUNITY FOLLOWING THE TOTAL LOSS OF A CHURCH AND SEVERE DAMAGE TO ANOTHER. BOTH CHURCHES PILLARS FOR THE COMMUNITY. SENSELESS. YOU KNOW, TO SEE A CHURCH AND THE HISTORY WHEN WE WILL GROW OUT OF IT. ST PHILIP’S LUTHERAN CHURCH DECIDED THAT IT WAS BUILDING BEEN HERE SINCE IT’S BUILT OVER 70 YEARS OLD. WE JUST HAD IT RENOVATED BACK IN 2018. THE EPIPHANY LUTHERAN CHURCH, LOCATED ON ISAIAH MONTGOMERY FALLS VICTIM TO AN ARSONIST EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. THIS CHURCH HAD BEEN BUILT HERE SINCE BACK IN THE 1940. IT’S ONE OF THE OLDEST, PREDOMINANTLY AFRICAN-AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH HERE IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI. SO THIS IS A SHOCK TO US THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS COULD HAPPEN. AND JUST DOWN THE STREET, PART OF THE GREATER BETHLEHEM TEMPLE CHURCH WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED. ERVIN RICKS, THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR THE CHURCH, SAYS THAT THE AREA DAMAGED IS THE OLDER PART OF THE CHURCH AND CONSIDERED TO BE HISTORIC. IT’S ALSO THE AREA WHERE THE CHILDREN’S SUNDAY SCHOOL IS HELD. WE CAN’T ALWAYS UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE DO EVIL, BUT WE KNOW THAT IT’S OUR JOB TO OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD. AND THAT’S WHY WE’RE COMMITTED AND WE’RE GOING TO BE HERE TO CONTINUE TO HELP THIS COMMUNITY IN WEST JACKSON, MADELIN