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Salvation is customarily accepted by people inside of a church sanctuary; however, in a turn of events, a historic church sanctuary outside of Belhaven was in need of saving five months ago. Congregants of Bethany Methodist Church say the church was saved by “the hand of God.” 

On May 15, an unknown person entered Bethany Methodist Church in the night. They poured an accelerant from the altar to the front doors then lit a match, Cindy Daw and Kathryn Cornelius allege. The next morning, when a church member opened the sanctuary doors a plume of smoke covered their face. They thought their clouded vision was caused by recent eye surgery. A nearby utility worker called out to them saying the church was on fire. 

Immediately, fire crews were called and responded. Amazingly, the church with its hardwood floors covering 170-year-old plank floors did not burn to the ground. The sanctuary’s red, flame-retardant carpet saved it. 

“We felt like we received a miracle,” Cornelius said. “The hand of God snuffed the fire out.” 

“The carpet was flame-retardant; however, after the carpet came up, you could see where it actually went through and started burning the wood. It was only by the grace of God and His hand, we believe, that snuff the fire out,” Daw said. “Why wouldn’t that wood have continued to burn all through the night, but it did not.” 

Cornelius said flames were not discovered by fire crews; however, a “severe” amount of soot covered the sanctuary, hallway and Sunday School rooms behind it. 

An investigation into the attempted arson began in May; however, a suspect has not been named. Daw and Cornelius said they cannot imagine why anyone would want to burn their church. 

“We don’t know of any reason that anyone would come and do this,” Cornelius said. “We don’t have any leads that we could give to the sheriff. There was no one that we could fathom that would have animosity.” 

Cornelius shared that if the person behind the attempted arson is caught, they would be met with “love” and “forgiveness” by the church. 

“We pray for the person who did it,” she said. “We ask God to help them, because obviously they need help. That’s been a constant prayer, I think, of every member of the congregation.” 

The news of the attempted arson sent shockwaves through her, the congregation and the Belhaven community. 

“I don’t think the church family particularly felt a need for justice, but I think a lot of people in the community felt like they were disappointed that there wasn’t someone brought to justice or the investigation didn’t reveal someone,” Cornelius said in talking about reactions from the Belhaven community. 

Though the sanctuary stands, several items could not be saved, because they were damaged by soot. Those items were personal Bibles and hymnals with inscriptions of past congregants whose memory they were dedicated to. Cornelius said the people who purchased those inscriptions have since passed away; therefore, it would be impossible to replace them.

Cornelius’ family has attended Bethany Methodist Church for generations. Her great-grandparents were congregants as well as her parents and now she and her husband. She was baptized and married at Bethany.

Like Cornelius, Cyndi Daw grew up attending Bethany. She recently moved to the area and started attending again four years ago. She has childhood memories of the church’s nursery where she now teaches on Sunday mornings. 

There were a lot of “tears” and “horror” among church members when they saw the sanctuary where generations of their families worshiped, covered in soot, Daw said. 

Cornelius, Daw and fellow congregant Marti Van Scott say the church’s loving approach is the reason why they kept their membership or moved their membership. Van Scott moved her membership to Bethany Methodist about 13 years ago.

“It was the sense of community, family and love that was here,” Van Scott said when sharing why she and her husband decided to attend Bethany Methodist Church. “I think that’s what brings a lot of people here who are new to the community; they just feel so welcomed.” 

Strong bonds between members of Bethany’s 35-member congregation is what held them together in May, the women said. The church was not going to let an arson attempt prohibit them from worshiping. They simply moved their Sunday morning service to their family life building that weekend. 

Cornelius said the church moved “in one accord, moving forward, to rebuild as quickly as possible.”  

In the months since the fire, ServePro has removed items from the sanctuary to clean such as the pews and an 1820’s organ. They have not yet finished cleaning. Bethany’s congregation hopes to be moved back in by Christmas. 

Cornelius, Daw and Van Scott agreed that the largest loss the church suffered was the ability to keep the sanctuary open. Prior to the arson attempt, Bethany’s front doors stayed open all of the time which allowed people to come in, pray and/or worship. Cornelius said visitors would leave notes behind thanking Bethany for keeping its sanctuary open. Throughout Bethany’s history, its congregation has remained adamant that the front doors would not have a lock. In May, that changed; locks have been added as well as security cameras. 

This saddens Cornelius because she thinks of all the people whose souls may need a temporary place of refuge, but can no longer find that at Bethany Methodist Church. “I just think about all the people we could miss,” she said. 

Bethany Methodist Church has existed in the small community of Winsteadville, outside of Belhaven, since 1811. Its name and location has changed in the last two hundred years. Its sanctuary was constructed in the 1850’s and moved several hundred yards from the original location by rolling logs in 1928 then refurbished, Cornelius shared. 

Anyone with information about the arson attempt is encouraged to call Beaufort County Crime Stoppers at 252-974-6400 or submit an anonymous tip through the Crime Stoppers’ app, www.p3tips.com/195. Crime Stoppers wants tipsters’ information, not their name.