Three years after arsonist and would-be metal musician, Holden Matthews (the son of a Louisiana sheriff's deputy), torched three Black Baptist churches in rural Louisiana, rebuilding is underway.
According to Daily World, on Easter Sunday the Rev. Gerald Toussaint welcomed the members of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church to fellowship, pray and begin Bible study via conference call, as he has since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the call, Toussaint went live on Facebook to preach his sermon. The decision to remain virtual is primarily out of caution for the elderly congregants at Mount Pleasant, he said, but the church also doesn't have a place to meet in-person right now.
The Opelousas church building was set on fire just weeks before Easter 2019, along with two other historically Black Baptist churches in St. Landry Parish. The arsonist, Holden Matthews, was arrested about a week later and pleaded guilty in February 2020. He is serving his 20-plus-year sentence in federal prison.
Three years later the Mount Pleasant congregation is perhaps months away from meeting in a brand-new sanctuary and fellowship hall. The new construction is nearly complete, awaiting a few deliveries and final inspections, Toussaint said.
"We began in a dark moment, but it's getting brighter and brighter every day," Toussaint said. "Now it's a bright day as we're looking forward to being back together in the church."
When the church burned they met for about a year in the Equine Center in Opelousas and went virtual amid the pandemic.
"It's been challenging but we've been getting through it simply because we stuck together," he said. "We realize none of us could have done this without faith. It's only by faith in God we've been able to even start the process of building."
While on the call, Toussaint updates his flock each week on the status of the construction process before Sunday School starts.
"They are very excited," he said.
The sanctuary of St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church is open to the elements, a gaping hole where large front doors will one day stand. Through the open window spaces you can see the progress that has been made - framed up walls, a staircase and more meeting rooms than before.
The unfinished building sits on the same land in Port Barre that has held the church for almost 150 years. Next door is a completed fellowship hall on a slab that had been poured before the church was burned.
Read the full report at DailyWorld.com.
