By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org
NASHVILLE — Despite some difficult circumstances, The Axis Church is still spinning.
Members of the church, located in downtown Nashville, gathered for an on-campus worship service on Sunday, Sept. 19 — just six days after an arsonist set fire to the building and caused extensive damage. The arsonist threw a Molotov cocktail through a church window on the night of Sept. 13.
Pastor Jeremy Rose said the service was a crucial first step in the healing process.
“For our church, I think this was kind of like 9-11, on a much smaller scale,” Rose said during an interview with the Baptist and Reflector. “So, we need a ‘George Bush throwing out the first pitch’ type of thing to happen. And we felt (the Sunday service) would offer that type of moment.”
Rose estimated the damage caused by the fire to be “easily a quarter of a million dollars.” The church lost 300 chairs (used for worship services and other gatherings) and all of its sound-system equipment. Soot and smoke caused damage to walls and ceilings.
Firefighters arrived at the church around 2 a.m. on Sept. 14 and extinguished a small fire inside the building, according to published reports. The incident — which drew coverage from each of the major network TV affiliates in the Nashville market — did not result in any injuries, but left emotional scarring for the Axis members. [Read more…]