PROCTORVILLE, N.C. – A Robeson County church was destroyed in a massive fire sparked by a lightning strike Monday night (Aug. 7) as severe storms moved through North Carolina and across the East Coast.

Proctorville Baptist Church, located at 304 Main Street in Proctorville, sustained significant damage during the blaze, with local fire officials declaring the church’s sanctuary and all of its contents a total loss. The church’s fellowship hall also sustained heavy smoke and water damage.

No one was injured during the incident, which began around 8 p.m. when lightning apparently struck the church’s steeple and quickly spread. Representatives from eight local fire departments quickly responded to the blaze, which firefighters had under control by 11:23 p.m., according to Justin Hunt, Robeson County’s assistant emergency management director.

Hunt said high winds and the age of the facility contributed to the speed at which the flames spread. The church’s current sanctuary was completed in 1957, but the original sanctuary was more than 100 years old, dating back to the church’s founding in 1914.

The powerful line of storms that swept across North Carolina and much of the East Coast  produced heavy rains, strong winds and multiple lightning strikes that resulted in widespread flooding, downed trees, canceled flights and numerous power outages across multiple states. The storms were also blamed for two deaths, one in Alabama and another in South Carolina.

Pastor Steve Johnson, who lives in the parsonage next door to the church, said he was eating dinner with his family when they heard the lightning strike. Shortly thereafter, they noticed what smelled like an electrical fire and started checking the house. Johnson opened the side door of the parsonage and was greeted by a black wall of thick smoke coming from the church.

“When we opened the door, it took our breath away,” said Johnson, who has served as Proctorville’s pastor for 18 years. “It looked like an inferno.”

With firefighters already arriving on the scene, Johnson began calling deacons to let them know the church was on fire. As news of the fire spread, church members and others from the community gathered to watch firefighters battle the blaze.

“It all went up pretty fast,” said Alan Taylor, associational mission strategist for the Robeson Baptist Association, who was one of the witnesses on the scene. “They got water on it almost immediately, but there wasn’t anything anybody could do.”

Several of those who gathered were longtime members of the congregation with strong family ties to the church. They laughed, cried and shared memories with one another and with Johnson. While they talked about the past, they also looked forward to the future.

“One lady came up to me and said, ‘Remember, that’s not the church. We are the church,’” Johnson said. The biblical principle is one that Johnson said he often shares as a reminder to the congregation.

Johnson said the church will hold a prayer service Wednesday night in the parking lot and will hold services this coming Sunday at a local community building as they seek God’s will for both the short- and long-term future of the congregation.

The church has experienced growth in recent months with average worship attendance doubling from about 50 on a given Sunday to now more than 100. Johnson said he wants the church to remain a visible presence in the community.

“The church is still present,” Johnson said. “The building is not, but the church is still here. God is going to do something great and wonderful with what’s happened.”