At reborn church, a special joy [The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.]

Dec. 25--Like other Tacoma congregations, Christians at Eastside Baptist Church are celebrating this morning, singing "Joy to the World" and "O Come All Ye Faithful."

This Christmas, the joyful and faithful members of Eastside Baptist also are grateful to have their own church home once again.

Twenty months ago, they were shocked and devastated when their building was reduced to ashes by a fire of suspicious origin. Since the blaze in April 2008, they worshiped in another church's gym a mile away, clinging to their faith and vowing to rebuild.

"It feels good to be home," said LaQuita Moore. "To be home on Jesus' birthday is wonderful. That's the icing on the cake."

Church members are welcoming Christmas today at 7 a.m. in their new 250-seat sanctuary, playing host to the annual Christmas Day service sponsored by the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance.

Inside the church at 3575 E. Portland Ave., white Christmas lights twinkle in artificial green garlands wrapped around a rail leading to the altar. The wood structure has a comfortable, functional feel with gray-and-black carpet and chairs in the sanctuary and a tile-floor foyer.

The new 10,000-square-foot building is about 20 percent larger than the one that burned. It has a kitchen, multipurpose room, three offices and six classrooms. Two classrooms were filled with clothing and toys before Christmas, part of the church's outreach to the community.

"It's an awesome Christmas gift," said Karl Banks, 33, an associate minister and son of Eastside's pastor, the Rev. Arthur Banks. "We couldn't ask for anything more."

A nearly 4-foot-tall wooden cross hangs on a wall in the new foyer. It's the lone remnant from a wall of the old church.

The surviving cross became a symbol of inspiration for members.

"They thought it was a sign from God that the cross hadn't burned and we needed to rebuild," said Herbert Jones, 67, chairman of the church's board of deacons.

Jones wrapped the cross in an old Army blanket and kept it in his garage at his home in Spanaway for 20 months. He touched it up with light furniture polish and put it up in a visible spot a few feet from a fire alarm.

The new church has an automatic sprinkler system and upgraded fire alarms now required by code.

For 20 months, the congregation gathered for Sunday worship in the gymnasium of nearby Bethlehem Baptist Church. They moved into the new church Dec. 6, and will dedicate it Sunday.

"It's a blessing to be back home," Jones said on the Sunday before Christmas.

"Amen, amen," the congregation shouted back during the morning service.

The new building cost about $1.6 million, Arthur Banks said. The church's insurance paid about $1.3 million, including the required sprinkler and alarm system. Part of the money went to pay off $300,000 left on the mortgage for the old church, he said. The church raised money and took out a loan to cover the remaining costs.

The exact cause of the fire that began in the church attic in the early morning of April 21, 2008, remains a mystery. The church was a total loss, causing an estimated $925,000 damage.

A spokeswoman for the church's insurance company said in September 2008 the fire was suspicious and was the result of a set fire. But Emily Abbas, of GuideOne Insurance, said there were no suspects to make it an arson. Ray Hoover, GuideOne's national property manager, said the blaze was "a set fire by the front door with some sort of accelerant."

Abbas, GuideOne's communications manager then, said there was evidence of diesel fuel or a similar substance in debris outside the building's remains.

One scenario is that a transient may have been trying to cook or stay warm and the fire unintentionally got out of control, according to what Banks said he was told by the Iowa-based insurer.

Tacoma Fire investigator Gene Williams concluded at the end of a 10-page report that the cause was "undetermined."

Moore, who's attended the church for five years, said: "If it was arson, I forgive the person who did it."

Moore, 38, was joined at Sunday's service by her husband, Staff Sgt. Johnnie Moore Sr., 39, who got his first look at the new building. He is home briefly for the holidays before he returns Jan. 7 to serve with Fort Lewis-based I Corps in Iraq.

"It's beautiful," the soldier said. "It's good to see the cross there that survived the fire."

A banner above the new entryway -- with a picture of the old building and a drawing of the new one -- proclaims the theme "From ashes to beauty." It quotes Isaiah 61:3 in the Bible: "He will give beauty for ashes."

Eastside is a predominantly black congregation affiliated with the National Baptist Convention USA Inc. The congregation was founded in 1965 by the Rev. O.R. Pigford, now deceased, who preached to about 25 members in a vacant laundromat near the current site on Tacoma's East Side. The sanctuary destroyed by fire was constructed in 1988 and enlarged in 1997.

Banks, Eastside's pastor since 1987, said the congregation is excited and grateful to be in the new church at Christmas -- even though the original target was Thanksgiving.

"It's special for us to be back in there period," said Banks, 57. The gift of a new church "signals a new beginning," he said.

The long transition took some toll. Average attendance on Sunday mornings dropped from about 220 to about 175, Banks said. Jones said he believes some people didn't like being without a permanent facility and having to worship in a gym.

Raven Hicks, 19, who's been at Eastside's services since she was an infant, said worshiping in a gym "felt kind of weird," but she stayed.

"It feels real good to be back (in a church)," Hicks said. "The church is your home. You're with the people you love to be around."

Senior usher Eloris Randle said the congregation was thankful it had somewhere to go until it could rebuild.

"Celebrating Christ's birthday in a new building is so wonderful," said Randle, 66. "We've been so blessed."

Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647 [email protected]

WHAT: Dedication service

WHEN: 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Eastside Baptist Church, 3575 E. Portland Ave., Tacoma

MORE INFO: 253-472-6222, www.eastsidebaptistchurch65.org

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