SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento church reopened Saturday more than three years after an arsonist firebombed and destroyed it.
The Central International Fellowship was full of excitement as church and community members flooded the newly opened church to celebrate the modernized but same building.
“We're just thrilled and excited to celebrate this with the community,” said executive pastor Chiem-Seng Yaangh. “It's been a long time coming… It's been a journey.”
A fire was intentionally set to the church Jan. 29, 2020 and destroyed the inside of the building.
Yaangh says it was like a bad movie.
“Everything was burnt, ashes on the floor, ashes coming down, the ceiling was pitch black,” he said. “It's been hard on everyone.”
Rebuilding was supposed to only take nine months, but the pandemic and supply shortages turned that into years.
“It's kind of a breath of fresh air to finally have it happen,” said Don Patterson. “We stopped giving our people target dates of when we'd be back in because we were so frustrated with them being broken.”
The church sits in the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento and has been modernized with additional safety features like a new fire sprinkler system. Not all things are new, though.
“Our stained glass all around the building has remained unscratched. That itself is a miracle,” said Yaangh.
Church leaders say even through the tough times, they’re luckier than most.
“We're a part of this neighborhood since 1945. And we're happy to be a part of it,” said Patterson.
Church leaders credit their insurance company and members for getting them back on their feet. Services begin again Sunday at 10 a.m.
