PANOLA, Ala. – More than 100 people from Alabama and Mississippi gathered recently at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in Panola to mark the 20th anniversary of what Pastor Bob Little calls “a blessing in the blaze.”
Four churches in Pickens County — including Galilee — were burned in the early morning hours of Feb. 7, 2006, a few days after five churches were torched in Bibb County.
All of the churches burned were Baptist, four were Southern Baptist. Five were predominantly African American churches, while four were predominantly white congregations.
9 churches targeted
Three college-aged students confessed to burning the Bibb County churches, and then two of the three also targeted the Pickens County churches. All three were convicted and served time in federal prison.
Bibb County Circuit Judge Marvin W. Wiggins, who presided over some of the trials and hearings related to the case, served as guest speaker for the 20th anniversary event.
“It was a remarkable moment 20 years ago when the church burners went around the Black Belt,” he said. “Several (of the nine churches) were burned to the ground.”
Preaching from the book of Job, Wiggins said, “Sometimes God uses tragedy to transform our lives … sometimes tragedy builds us up.
“God had us in place to be in a position to talk to pastors, to talk to the families and talk to the kid’s parents about what should happen. All I could think about was what if it had been one of our (kids)?”
There did not appear to be any racial or ideological motivations for the arson, merely vandalism and thrill-seeking.
Grace and forgiveness
In the end, the pastors and church leaders chose grace and forgiveness. The young men were granted concurrent prison sentences instead of the sentences being added up into a lifetime in prison. They were released while still in their 20s with an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
“God wanted to see what we were going to do,” Wiggins noted. “Are y’all going to be like them? Or are y’all going to remember My goodness?”
And He wanted others to see His goodness too, Wiggins added. “A church once sitting out here in the middle of nowhere is now on the road where people can see it.”
The new building has plenty of space with the opportunity to grow and is active with a variety of ministries taking place, including multiple roles being filled by youth and young adults.
Little, who has served as pastor of Galilee for more than 25 years, agreed the way God has moved and worked since the fire has been nothing short of a miracle. “I just praise Him,” Little said. “He has brought ministry out of a match, and we are grateful.”
This article originally appeared in The Alabama Baptist.
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