[1]TULARE, Calif. (BP) – A Monday morning fire that has rendered the building of Family Baptist Church useless is nonetheless revealing how the congregation is much more than a name.
Pastor Samuel Gray received a notification Feb. 9 at 6 a.m. of a triggered motion sensor. He arrived about 15 minutes later, with the local fire department already on the scene and flames coming through the roof.
That roof collapsed into the sanctuary, rendering it a complete loss. Technically, the education wing and fellowship hall survived, although with extensive smoke and water damage. The cause is currently unknown, and there was no sign of a break-in.
Gray has been the pastor at FBC for eight years. His wife, Sarah, has served in the children’s and student ministries. They have five children, the oldest graduating from California Baptist University this year. Gray is just three classes away – including Greek and Hebrew – from finishing his Master of Divinity at Gateway Seminary.
A church fire doesn’t make things any simpler. It certainly doesn’t for a church that has built significant inroads within the community while going through a recent name change.
Tulare First Southern Baptist Church launched Oct. 9, 1943, meeting in the local American Legion Hut. Growth required two physical moves, the second placing the congregation on the corner of Prosperity Avenue and Lincoln Street. That led to the renamed Prosperity Avenue Baptist Church in July 1989.
Tulare is a city of more than 72,000, about two-thirds of them Hispanic. Gray had served in churches that reached multiple ethnic communities. Prosperity Avenue Baptist did this, too, with separate congregations under the same roof. But he also noticed a separation among older members, who preferred worship in Spanish, and their children and grandchildren.
The church still has separate Spanish- and English-based services held simultaneously, but a name change to Family Baptist Church last fall signified the desire to fellowship as one body.
[2]“Basically, it’s a multi-service church, but we’re meeting at the same time … so that families can come to church together,” Gray said.
About 80 people gathered on the church lawn Monday night (Feb. 9) for a prayer service, with a quarter of them community members adding support.
Tulare County boasts a robust agricultural community. The total gross production value from 2024 was $8.3 billion, a 6 percent increase from the previous year. Milk, alone, is a $2.3 billion a year business.
And yet, there is another side of the tracks. A California Interagency Council on Homelessness report [3] from 2025 revealed that the rate of unsheltered homelessness rose by 23.1 percent. It is also an area with a 17.94 percent poverty rate, and every child in the city school system is eligible for free or reduced meals.
The lawn adjacent to the church hosts Family Baptist’s Freedom Festival, held on July 2, and backpack giveaways that have become crucial to the community.
“One of the things that we are known for in the community is we try to use that field effectively,” Gray said. “We use it as an opportunity to share the Gospel and express that true freedom comes through Jesus Christ.”
A prayer gathering will be held there tonight. The youth group will meet at another local church. For the foreseeable future, the field will also be where the church gathers to worship.
“Our big search is going to be trying to find … somewhere where we can have two large rooms that we can use [for English and Spanish services],” Gray said. “Multiple churches – both Southern Baptist and otherwise in the community – reached out to offer space and offer help. The church community in Tulare is very [supportive].”
Recent days have brought many changes. But the mission remains the same.
“We’ll still continue to love people here. We’re still planning on doing the things we do for the community,” said Gray. “None of that will change.
“God has been good. No one was in there. People are safe. What’s been lost can be replaced.”
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