LUBBOCK, Texas — Mt. Zion Baptist Church has been in New Home, Texas for almost 85 years. Pastor L.V. Witherspoon said this has been a difficult experience to say the least.
“It was a difficult thing to experience, especially when you been in the pulpit preaching and then you see this is what the end result is,” said Witherspoon.
In his nearly 20 years of pastoring, Witherspoon said when he went to see the damage done to the church, he just couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I thought they were tearing the building down,” he said. “I said, ‘Wait a minute, this is not our church.’”
Although the vandals didn’t steal any valuables, like instruments played during church services, Witherspoon and a Deacon noticed a lot more damage had been done than they’d first thought.
“A couple of us came out to look around to see what had happened, and then we started noticing, hey, the windows are all knocked out,” described Witherspoon.
Mt. Zion Baptist Church doesn’t have in-person services every week, and streaming worship instead, Witherspoon said he suspects that may have had something to do with the situation.
“Within the last three to four weeks is when it occurred, because we were we’ve been in and out of here within that time frame,” said Witherspoon. “I think that they may have thought that it was abandoned or something and it may have been kids and they just decided, ‘Hey, let’s go!’”
According to Witherspoon, any incident like this is upsetting, but this one was especially hurtful.
“That was the most disappointing thing is to realize that we’ve either got someone that has no regard for others property, which we can attest to that, and they didn’t care that it was a religious facility,” said Witherspoon. “They didn’t care, and that was really disappointing.”
However, despite the devastating aftermath of the incident, for the church, there’s still a silver lining.
“We have we have an opportunity to share with them the word of God. That’s what is more important to me,” said Witherspoon. “It strengthens your faith.”
Along with a plan to add cameras and a security system, the small but mighty congregation is almost done with cleaning up and ready to start repairs.
“We’re going to find a way to get it done,” said Witherspoon. “We’ve done it for 84 years. 85 doesn’t make a difference.”
If you want to offer support and help Mt. Zion Baptist Church with repairs, you’re asked to visit their Facebook page or call (806)-777-9065 for more information.
