‘We will rebuild’: Local pastor responds to fire that heavily damaged church

A local pastor said he is heartbroken about the damage done by fire to his church early Friday morning.

The fire, which broke out at New Testament Missionary Baptist Church around 12:30 a.m., appears to have started on an outside wall, according to San Antonio firefighters.

However, the flames and smoke spread inside, causing heavy damage throughout the tiny building, located in the 1200 block of East Crockett Street.

“We’ve lost everything,” said Rev. Bernard Willis, as he later walked through the rubble. “Of course, it breaks our hearts. But we know that we are the church.”

The fire got into the attic, blackened walls, and destroyed musical instruments and parts of the sound system.

Only a small area in the vestibule of the church appeared to be untouched.

The building has been home to New Testament and its largely African American congregation since the late 1960s.

Willis said there currently are about a dozen regular members.

Arson investigators have not yet determined the exact cause of the fire or whether the church could have been targeted, perhaps because of race.

The pastor, though, suspects it may have been intentional.

“Yesterday, when we had our Bible study, a homeless gentleman came by and shared with me that he saw a gentleman pulling on the front burglar bar here. And he ran him off,” Willis said.

He believes it’s possible that person came back and started the fire.