By Alex Hutton
Medill Reports

On April 15, the historic Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Englewood was destroyed by a series of fires. The damage has had a tremendous impact on the congregation and clergy as they attempt to stay strong during this difficult time. Medill Reports’ Alex Hutton talked to members of the church about their reactions to the destruction, the rebuilding efforts and the outside help they’ve received.

Intro

ALEX HUTTON: Hello, everybody, and welcome to Medill Newsmakers. I’m Alex Hutton. Earlier this year, the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Englewood was destroyed by a series of fires beginning on April 15th. The fires were initially triggered by the propane torch of a roofer doing work at the building. The damage is even more significant given the history of the building, which had been standing in Englewood for more than 130 years. Since the fires, the church has continued to conduct services at an alternate location and has begun a rebuilding process, which is expected to last one and a half to two years. The larger Chicago Baptist community has provided significant help to the church during this difficult time. I talked to multiple members of the church about their experiences with the fires and the church’s next steps. First up is Gerald Dew, the lead pastor at Antioch. Take a look.

HUTTON: So, to get into it, one thing I’m curious about is how did you first hear about the fire?

GERALD DEW: It was on Good Friday. We had completed our 12 noon service. I had gotten home. It was about 2 o’clock in the afternoon when one of the trustees of the church called and said “Pastor, there’s a fire.”

HUTTON: And then what was your immediate reaction? Can you take me through that moment of hearing about it?

DEW: My immediate reaction was, you know, it’s probably a trash can fire, you know, a battery, you know, caught on fire. And I even asked him “Should I come back up to the church?” And he was kind of waffling, and he simply said that one of the members was at the bus stop near the church and turned around and looked back at the church, and smoke was billowing out of the roof. And so I got in the car and came back down to the church. When I got to 95th and the Dan Ryan, I could see the black smoke. By the time I got to 71st Street, the smoke had turned white. So I’m thinking “OK, they’ve got it extinguished because the color changed.” But by the time I exited on 67th Street and came over to Stewart and actually turned right looking north from 67th Street and Stewart towards 63rd Street, I could literally see the flames. I could see multiple first responders, fire trucks, ambulances, the whole nine yards. And I knew it was a big fire and a big deal. My heart sank.

HUTTON: After that first day, those first couple hours, what were the immediate adjustments you had to make from that point?

DEW: I had to find a place to worship on Sunday. Because that Sunday was Easter Sunday, or Resurrection Sunday, and I had to find a place to worship. That was the first thing on my mind.

HUTTON: So then how has the church been functioning since that time?

DEW: Well, one of the things that COVID-19 taught us is, as significant and as important as a physical building is, you really can do spiritual ministry without a physical location. And so the pivoting of COVID-19 really kind of prepared us for the pivoting without having a facility at all.

HUTTON: So have you been doing, like, Zoom services and services online and things like that?

DEW: Yes, we just continued our same online presence, and our physical gathering is at Calahan Legacy Center at 71st and South Halsted, where we meet on Sundays. We have a sponsored housing complex, and we’ve taken one of the units and made it a temporary office for the church. And so we’ve just continued to do ministry. We still had our food giveaway. We still do our youth meetings. We still do Zoom Bible study and prayer calls on Wednesdays. Our Sunday school classes still meet via Zoom four different days a week. It’s just an incredible ministry.

HUTTON: This fire — how has it impacted the congregation?

DEW: It has bound us closer together. It has challenged us to really live by our faith. You know, at some point, you have to live some of the stuff we’ve been teaching and preaching. And when you have this kind of situation, you have to depend on God probably more than ever. And that’s what I’m seeing happening among our members.

HUTTON: Has there been a moment over the last few weeks that’s really stood out to you as it relates to all of this?

DEW: One moment I remember, it was — I think it was Easter Sunday. One of the pastors, the pastors of the church maybe three blocks from Antioch, came over to the funeral home to have prayer with me. And he reminded me that when he first became the pastor of that church, I had gone down to his church to welcome him and to have prayer with him. But he had not arrived at his service yet — at the church yet. And so we had two services — two in-person services at the time. And so after my early service was over, he came down to Antioch because he missed me because I had gone to his church. So I came outside and I welcomed him to the neighborhood, and I had prayer for him and all of that. And he said to me that that impacted him in such a positive way until he wanted to return the favor. And so he came and had prayer for me. That moment, that was a standout moment.

HUTTON: I know it’s still early, but what sort of steps have been taken in terms of rebuilding the church and bouncing back from this?

DEW: Well, we’ve assembled a Build Antioch steering committee that has the responsibility of interviewing churches that have recently built facilities to kind of get some feedback from them. You know, what did they do? What do they wish they had not done? We’re also interviewing with architects and construction companies, contractors, to try to see, you know, how that’s going to go. We are surveying our membership just to get at the heart and mind. What would they like to see in the new facility? Those types of things.

HUTTON: How will the church rebound from this? What’s the key to coming back from this stronger?

DEW: Patrick Kelley, [pastor] in Missouri City, Texas, and he says, “Don’t waste a good crisis.” So one of the keys to coming back from this stronger is to not waste this opportunity to deepen our faith. Not waste this opportunity to draw closer to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Don’t waste this opportunity to learn about building a new facility. Don’t waste this opportunity about growing in our knowledge and understanding. You know, just don’t waste the opportunity. If we utilize this downtime properly, then we’ll come back stronger and better.

HUTTON: That’s all the questions I have, pastor. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

DEW: Thank you for having me, and keep us in your prayers.

HUTTON: My thanks once again to Pastor Gerald Dew. After the break, I talk to a member of the congregation to gain her perspective on the recent events. Don’t go anywhere.

Commercial

HUTTON: Welcome back to Medill Newsmakers. I’m Alex Hutton and I’m continuing my conversations with members of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Englewood about the recent fires at their place of worship. Up next is longtime Antioch parishioner Yvonne Seabrooks.

HUTTON: How did you first hear about the fire?

YVONNE SEABROOKS: I first heard about the fire from my sister. She has the Citizen app, which always alerts her of anything happening in the neighborhood. And she told me that she saw someone posted a video that the church was on fire. And I said, “You’ve gotta be kidding me. They just had service. What do you mean, the church is on fire?” And she said, you know, “I want you to see this video.” So she actually sent it to me so I could see it, and I said, “That’s our church. Oh my God. That’s our church. I can’t believe it.” So it was pretty devastating to actually see it in real-time because she was live. So that’s how I found out.

HUTTON: And then what was, sort of, how — what has your experience at the church been since that time?

SEABROOKS: Since that time? Honestly, it’s still a process. I’m still processing. That’s been my home, my place of worship for nearly 55 years now — all my life. And, you know, my parents were involved in the church when they were younger, and to actually see a place I’ve essentially called home go — it’s just like your home going up in flames, so it’s been a process, but I have seen the church membership stronger now than it’s been as we’ve all come together collectively to kind of comfort one another, pray with one another. We’re still worshipping with one another even though it’s at another location. But just standing strong in the face of all of this, so it’s been a — it’s been sort of up and down emotionally, but we have been carrying on, so that’s been a fantastic thing. And my pastor’s been phenomenal. The executive staffers just have all been great.

HUTTON: You mentioned the pastor and how they’ve handled this. How have you noticed it? The way that the clergy is dealing with this situation right now.

SEABROOKS: Well, I think, just demonstrating great strength. You know, I think leading us that way is the best possible thing that, you know, the clergy could do right now. And not just our pastor, Dr. Dew, but many of the pastors here in Chicago and the surrounding areas, all over the country, have kind of rallied around us and put their arms around us and said, you know, “Hey, we’re here.” Even coming, showing up in person or saying, “What is your immediate need? What do you need right now?” So that’s all been wonderful, you know? And we’ve really counted a blessing to have these relationships with so many people over the years. So many pastors and churches and clergy from all over the world over the years. And even some that are new. Some that we haven’t even had a relationship with who have come and said, you know, “We’re here to help. What do you need?” So that’s been absolutely wonderful. But our pastor has really been phenomenal in the face of this just carrying on and, you know, we have a great executive team and trustees and deacons that have been working alongside him. So, you know, it’s been great. It’s been great to see them working together. To see about what the next phase of this is going to be for us.

HUTTON: When I talked to Pastor Dew, he talked about sort of that next phase and trying to figure out what sort of the best next steps are. How do you think the congregation can be involved in that part of it?

SEABROOKS: Well, number one, we can all play a part in the Build Antioch effort that’s going on right now. What we’re doing, essentially, right now, of course, is kind of fundraising for building our new home on the same spot that our old home served on. And just basically — just comforting each other and praying for one another through this. But that’s basically what the membership has been doing, and also giving input as to what we would like our next house of worship to be like. We have a Build Antioch team, called The Dream Team, and what they’re doing is taking suggestions from our members as to what you would see in our new house of worship. What exactly would be a need that we see to be something that would help us as members in the church. And also, what part can they play in that? So there’s several teams to work on, from marketing to fundraising to events to media to so many different areas that members are now volunteering on to help us through this process.

HUTTON: Something else I was curious about is, you know, Antioch is a very historic church. There’s a lot of history there. So what’s the importance of preserving this history as part of this rebuilding effort?

SEABROOKS: Oh, it’s very important. It’s very important. And that’s why we’re not going to relocate to somewhere else, because our mission has always been in the Englewood community. I mean, it would be very easy for us to pick up and relocate and go someplace else, but historically, that has been our ministry, our mission. To be right there in the Englewood community surrounded by — you know, surrounding the people and restoring hope in a community, which has been plagued by so much negativity over the years. And so that’s one of the reasons of why it’s so important for us to maintain the historic value of it. And also just to remind everyone how far we’ve come with our church. What we have done, how we have serviced, you know, what we have — you know, our accomplishments that have been made right there in the neighborhood. So that’s how we’re going to preserve that and we’re going to carry on, you know, just as we’ve done. From that same location. And still honoring our commitment to the Englewood neighborhood.

HUTTON: That’s all the questions I have. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

SEABROOKS: Thank you.

HUTTON: That’s all for this edition of Medill Newsmakers. My huge thanks to Pastor Gerald Dew and Yvonne Seabrooks. And special thanks to Michael Peery and Rev. Michael Walton. Once again, I’m Alex Hutton. We’ll see you next time. Take care and goodbye.

Outro

Alex Hutton is a sports media graduate student at Medill. You can follow him on Twitter at @AlexHutton35.