Lifepoint Church in Malvern, Arkansas, is calling for prayers after a lightning strike ignited a fire that devastated the church building.
Student Pastor Boone Hyatt reflected on the loss in an interview with KARK: "There is a lot of history for a lot of people here. I grew up in this church, a lot of history here for me, married here, started a family here" he said.
The incident forced one couple to urgently seek an alternative venue for their wedding.
According to the news outlet, lead pastor Rick McClure, was at the church at the time of the incident and heard a boom. He checked the lights and the building, and everything looked and seemed fine, so he headed to his next meeting.
He said:“As soon as I opened the front door, smoke just bellowed out in my face, and so I called 911, and they were here within 10 minutes or so.”
Despite the initial confusion and rapid response from local fire departments, Hyatt remained hopeful: “We had, I think, four to five different fire departments here throughout the day that helped...and all came together and worked to get it stopped and under control.”
He continued: “The report is looking like it was a lightning strike...We are not 100% sure but we’re pretty sure that is what happened.”