LIZELLA, Ga. — Pastor Lamb Andrews was horrified when an arsonist set Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Lizalla on fire.
“I saw smoke just shooting out of the front end of the church," he said. "An evil spirit led him to do that."
Evil came knocking on May 11.
In the wake of the fire, the congregation went back to what they used to do during COVID, and they planned to meet in the parking lot.
Directly behind Pleasant Grove Missionary is the Fellowship Community Church. When their pastor, Quinn Hammock, saw Pleasant Grove's congregation worshiping in the parking lot, the sight just didn't sit right.
“I just can't see them sitting out there in the heat having church, and we up under air conditioning,” Hammock said.
First Community, a non-denominational church, meets in the original home of Pleasant Grove. Their new sanctuary — the one that burned — is just 500 yards away.
“Pastor Hammock was that good Samaritan. He saw the need, he saw the struggle, he saw the hurt, he saw the pain,” Andrews said.
Hammock could have offered his sanctuary at a different time of the day, but he didn't.
And even though the Black and white congregations share land, Andrews says they didn't share much of anything else.
“We don't have no malice no hate between us,” Andrews said.
With the goodwill between the two churches, Hammock said this was a long-time coming.
“It was time for it to happen,” Hammock stated. “One day it's going to be one tongue from every nation. It's not going to be color or race, it's going to be the body of Christ.”
Hammock offered a bridge, a blueprint and a true embodiment of the words "love thy neighbor."
The leaders alternate Sundays in the pulpit delivering the message.
“When you have that desire, I want to worship with you, and you want to worship with me — ohh, that's exciting," Andrews said with a smile. "That's just like a spiritual classroom.”
Come winter, the two groups of people will move on.
Pleasant Grove is going back to their sanctuary, and First Community is moving to land they've purchased for their own building.
But they'll never forget this lesson based on the good word.
“It would be nice if we could all just do this often and not take a tragedy to bring us together," Andrews said. "Don't wait for something bad to happen. Just come together by choice.”
Lamb says the sheriff's office did make an arrest in the case, and he estimates the arson did $400,000 in damage to the sanctuary.
You can join Suzanne in her travels across our area, uncovering the history and faith of places of worship in Central Georgia.
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