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East-side community remembers landmark church that burned down in Friday night fire

“It hurts you right here, because that’s God’s church, that’s our church and to see this I’m just so shocked,” one longtime resident said.

SAN ANTONIO — Broken beams, and shattered dreams are all that’s left of Huntleigh Park Baptist Church.

“I turned the corner and I stopped,” long time east-side resident Bernard Stewart said. “This has been a landmark since I’ve been here.”

A church that once stood tall and proud for at least the last 60 years, burned down to just ashes and rubble after a fire engulfed the church’s walls late Friday night.

“This church has been a pillar of the community. I got a text that the church was on fire and at first I thought it was just a joke,” Huntleigh Park Baptist Church member Lena Taylor said.

Thankfully the San Antonio Fire Department says no one was inside at the time of the fire, but the sanctuary was a total loss.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

“It hurts you right here, because that’s God’s church, that’s our church and to see this I’m just so shocked,” Stewart said.

Stewart says he hadn’t gotten the news before he decided to come back home to visit family, but what he saw he says left him speechless.

“I’ve been inside for a couple of services. It was a great atmosphere, and to come home to visit and this is the first thing I see when I turn the corner. It’s sad,” Stewart said.

While there are no concrete plans at the moment for how thus staple of the community will bounce back, it’s community is holding on to the faith that when it does, it’ll be better than ever.

“It’s gone, but it can be rebuilt, and I hope it does,” Stewart said.

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