Fire damages 100 year old church, pastor vows to rebuild

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Reporter - Robert Bradfield

Story Created: Sun May 13, 2012 7:00 PM

Story Updated: Sun May 13, 2012 10:10 PM

 

METROPOLIS, Ill. — On any normal Sunday, Pastor Paul McCormick would open the doors to his church and find salvation.

 

"It's just been a beautiful little church," he said.

 

 

 

But on this Mother's Day Sunday, he's walking the water soaked isles hoping his church can be salvaged.

"We run up here to find the church on fire," he said as he recalled Saturday night. Much of Upper Salem Baptist Church is covered in soot and ash, but remarkably, many of the bibles went untouched.

"Not what I'm used to for Sunday mornings, " McCormick said with a smile.

McCormick doesn't know what caused Saturday night's fire but he does know smoke and flames won't take him away from the place he's preached for the last seven months.

"We're going to keep going no matter what we have to do," he said.

The cause is still unknown.