Church members gathered to see what’s left of a massive Thanksgiving fire that destroyed much of their historic church in Gwinnett County.
A Channel 2 News viewer shared video Thursday evening of flames pouring out of Buford’s First Pentecostal Church on East Moreno Street.
Channel 2’s Veronica Griffin spoke with Pastor Jordan Copeland on Friday evening about the damage and what’s next for the church.
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Jordan said it will take a lot of time and money, but they plan to build even though the fire leaves the building, which dates back to the 1930s, as a shell unto itself.
“All my memories are here,” Copeland said.
Not only did he grow up in this church before taking over as pastor five years ago, but his father, the late Bishop Timothy Copeland, led the congregation there for three decades.
“Everything that reminded me of my father was here. We lost him last year to dementia, which was very difficult for the church to process,” Copeland said.
Several of the church’s 500 members stopped by throughout the day to survey the damage.
While he knew that the building, as Pastor Copeland said, “The building is not the church. The people are the church.”
They will still hold a church service on Sunday at the nearby Buford Church of God.
The fire brigade searched for hotspots on Friday evening.
They have not yet released anything about the cause of the fire.
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