First Baptist Dallas gave congregants a first look Sunday at its plans for the rebuild of its historic sanctuary, which burned down in a four-alarm fire in July.
The reconstructed sanctuary will be modeled after an old 1908 design of the building, which has been through four remodelings, senior pastor Robert Jeffress told The Dallas Morning News. “I think once people see the majesty of it, they will understand why we went that way,” he said.
The building’s steeple will also resemble the steeple in the 1908 design, Jeffress said. The church hopes the steeple will light up at night and become a downtown Dallas landmark.
The rebuild will include some of the stained glass from the charred building and aims to preserve three exterior walls of the historic sanctuary, Jeffress said.
First Baptist started in 1868 with three men and eight women, according to a story in The News on the church’s 150th anniversary. A Texas Historical Commission marker says the first building on the church’s downtown site was a one-room frame structure built in 1871, and a “section of Victorian-style, red-brick building was erected in 1890.”
The chapel that burned down in July served as the church’s primary place of worship for over a century. In 2013, it became the church’s secondary chapel when the church finished a restoration and expansion of its downtown facilities.
Once finished, the reconstructed chapel will provide about 2-3 times as much community gathering space as it did before, Jeffress said. “Church shouldn’t be just sitting in pews looking at the backs of other people’s heads,” he said. “It’s a time to interact with one another, and this new community space will allow us to do that.”
The church’s executive pastor Ben Lovvorn said the church does not yet have an estimate on the timeline for or cost of the rebuild.
The church selected the Beck Group, one of Dallas’ best-known design and construction companies, to lead the rebuild efforts. “Our Planning and Development Committee unanimously chose The Beck Group because of their creativity, their expertise in restoring historic buildings, and their long history with First Baptist Dallas,” Jeffress told The News.
On the evening of July 19, a four-alarm fire destroyed the 134-year-old historic sanctuary of the church. Firefighters say the fire started in the building’s basement.
The cause of the fire will remain undetermined, a Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesperson told The News last month.
The church, which now has about 16,000 members, was called the Notre Dame of the Southern Baptist Convention by the newly elected president of the denomination shortly after the fire.
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
