`Accident' Ruling Can't Lessen Pain -- New Hope Church Fire Deeply Felt By Members

Mary Anglin pointed at two firefighters digging through the charred remains of New Hope Baptist Church and said they were standing in the same spot she was married 10 years ago today.

Jeri White peered at the gutted church while standing behind a yellow police tape and said her mother had been put to rest here 27 years before.

And Bernita Johnson said she had been baptized there, in the church that has been part of the family for decades. Her 92-year-old grandmother still attended services, always sitting in the third pew on the right-hand side, next to the aisle.

Yesterday, that pew turned to ash. About 5 a.m., the New Hope Baptist Church was gutted in a $1.5 million fire that was accidental, according to an investigation by the Seattle Fire Department.

Wires in a light-timing device overheated and ignited a wall in the southeast corner of the main floor, according to Georgia Taylor, Fire Department spokeswoman. The fire spread rapidly because of the cedar paneling and the large open room with no walls or fires stops, Taylor said.

The fire burned with such intensity that the first firefighters to arrive were unable to enter the building, Taylor said.

The church, at 21st Avenue and East Fir Street, is believed to be the first one in Seattle designed and built by African Americans. The building was constructed in 1959, replacing a small church that could no longer hold the growing congregation.

Today, 800 members are involved in an array of social and political issues. They provide shelter and food for the homeless and promote economic development for the African-American community through an organization called Black Dollar Days Task Force.

"It's a very active church," said the Rev. Elaine Stanovsky, president/director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle. "If you worship there on a Sunday morning, the prayer includes issues from all around the world, as well as home."

That activism has not gone unnoticed. As firefighters examined the rubble yesterday, onlookers speculated about the possibility of arson, citing vandalism at the church and threats to the outspoken pastor, the Rev. Dr. Robert Jeffrey Sr.

During a brief statement outside the burned structure, Jeffrey acknowledged he had been threatened Saturday at a gay-rights rally. He also has been threatened for forging a partnership with Seattle's Jewish community to help finance new businesses in the Central Area.

"We receive threats about almost everything," Jeffrey said. "But I don't connect them to anything."

Since January, rocks have been thrown through church windows three times, according to Seattle police.

It is Jeffrey's intention to replace the structure. Saying "everything continues," he will ask the community to rebuild the church. Many in the crowd nodded their approval.

"People can destroy things, but they cannot destroy love," said Anglin, who has been a church member for 20 years. "I know we're going to get through this."

There already have been two churches on the site. The first was a small white-painted one that many members remember well.

"I was 2 or 3 years old when we marched into our brand-new church, and it was one of my first recollections as a child," said White. "I was so glad to get out of that raggedy old white church. I felt like we were marching off to heaven."

She smiled and then wiped a tear from her eye. Her grandparents and mother had been put to rest at the church, her older sister baptized there, her own wedding held at its altar.

"It hurts me," she said. "It hurts me deep."

Bernita Johnson was raised in a home behind the church, where her grandfather was a deacon. As a little girl, she joined in a fair-housing march that included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and members of her church.

"The church is what held us together as the African-American community because it was the one thing that was ours," she said.

Anyone wishing to help the church can leave donations at any Key Bank branch, a church spokesman said. At a candlelight vigil at the church last night, the multi-ethnic crowd pledged support for Jeffrey and rebuilding the church.

The crowd filled the parking lot and spilled out into the streets around the church, sharing flames from their candles with each other.

Despite the smell of charred wood that still clung to the scene, speakers, who included church leaders and city officials, were optimistic.

"This is the building there," said senior associate minister, the Rev. Dr. Media Smith-Robinson. "The church is here," she said, pointing to her heart.

"Nothing changes. Nothing stops," said Jeffrey, his voice strained and his eyes red from crying. He grew increasingly spirited, rousing the crowd with pledges to rebuild the church and go forward with plans. "Destiny is in our hands. This accident, this tragedy will not stop it. . . . We're rolling up our sleeves in the morning, like it's another day's work."

New Hope will hold services Sunday at 11 a.m. under a large tent in the church's parking lot. In addition, church leaders are moving ahead with Campaign 5000, a fund-raising drive for a small-business loan fund that is coordinated by an African-American and Jewish communities partnership.

After surveying the fire damage yesterday, Seattle Mayor Norm Rice said he had directed Fire Chief Claude Harris and Police Chief Norm Stamper to conduct a thorough investigation.

"Regardless of the cause . . . the destruction of New Hope is a tragedy," he said. "I hope that our entire community will come together . . . and extend our financial and moral support as the church begins its rebuilding effort."