{"id":200370,"date":"2026-03-21T11:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T11:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/200370\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T11:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T11:39:09","slug":"historic-baptist-church-in-sanford-hopes-to-rebuild-after-devastating-fire-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/200370\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Baptist church in Sanford hopes to rebuild after devastating fire \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rev. Michael Griffin walked between pews littered with ashes and charred debris as he surveyed the damage from an early-morning fire last week that nearly destroyed his century-old church, one of the oldest in Sanford\u2019s historic Black neighborhood of Georgetown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very optimistic that we can rebuild,\u201d the pastor of Zion Hope Missionary Baptist Church said on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had people from all over offering to help,\u201d Griffin said, looking toward the stained glass windows. \u201cPeople from as far as New York, who used to come to our church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overlooking the corner of East Eighth Street and Orange Avenue, the church was first built in 1920 and then rebuilt in 1928. Baptist preacher John Hurston, father of famed American writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston<\/a>, preached at Zion Hope in the early 20th century, according to the Sanford Historical Society.<\/p>\n

But rebuilding again will be a challenge, Griffin acknowledged. The church\u2019s insurance company dropped its coverage about two years ago, he said. And because of the wooden structure\u2019s age, the church was uninsured.<\/p>\n

The blaze broke out just after 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, igniting inside a small office. The flames rapidly rose up the walls and into the ceiling.<\/p>\n

A resident walking their dog called 911 after seeing black smoke billowing out of the roof.<\/p>\n

No one was inside and no one was hurt in the fire, according to the Sanford Fire Department. Firefighters made a hole with an axe just above the entrance to let the thick black smoke flow out and to avoid breaking the eight stained glass windows along the sides of the structure.<\/p>\n

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to a city spokesman.<\/p>\n

\"ZionChurch pews at Zion Hope Missionary Baptist Church are littered with ashes and other charred debris from a fire on March 18, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

The nearly 100 parishioners of Zion Hope now plan to attend weekend services and Sunday school at the smaller, adjacent education building.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, a GoFundMe page<\/a> has been set up with the goal of raising $100,000 toward rebuilding the church. As of Friday, the fund had collected $4,811 in donations.<\/p>\n

But Zion Hope is more than just the white building with a red tile roof, said David Griffin, the pastor\u2019s son.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Zion Hope regularly put on yard sales and barbecues after Sunday services, with the Griffins grilling hamburgers and hot dogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be tough to rebuild,\u201d David Griffin said standing outside. \u201cBut we have faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ZionZion Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Sanford’s historic Black neighborhood Georgetown was badly damaged during an early-morning fire on March 18, 2026. The structure has overlooked the corner of Eighth Street and Orange Avenue since 1920. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Inside, water from the ceiling continued to drip onto the pews. A stack of Bibles was covered in soot. The walls were charred black from the fire\u2019s smoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just devastating what we lost,\u201d said Patricia Phelps, 76, who has faithfully attended services at Zion Hope for two decades. She also takes part in Sunday school and serves as an usher.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe church is very important to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She recalled the COVID pandemic in 2020 when services were temporarily halted. It was a difficult time for her and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go back to the time when the pandemic hit, and we had a setback then,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cBut God got us through that. And I know God will bring us back from this.\u201d<\/p>\n

She paused and then added: \u201cI look at the church as a family. We are looking forward to bringing the family back together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rev. Michael Griffin walked between pews littered with ashes and charred debris as he surveyed the damage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,114,266,115,139,141,140,2647,1014,109],"class_list":["post-200370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-sanford","tag-seminole-county","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}