From ashes to new building, Tyler church looking up

TYLER—When Tyland Baptist Church burned nearly to the ground 18 months ago at the hands of arsonists, the church was about to begin an evangelism training effort.

“We were to begin that Sunday. We said, ‘OK, we are going to do this.’ The enemy wants to keep you down when you are growing in the Lord,” Pastor David Mahfood said in a phone interview with the TEXAN on July 13, three days after dedicating the church’s 11,000-square-foot rebuilt structure.

“It still has that new church smell,” said Mahfood, his voice betraying abundant enthusiasm.

He said after news coverage of the arsons were national, the church received donations from individuals across the nation.  The church was underinsured by about $100,000, Mahfood said, but church giving and outside contributions covered the costs.

Meanwhile, others pastors donated theology books and study materials that burned.  Baptist Builders built the cabinetry.

“We are going without a few things, and some things we decided we probably didn’t need,” the pastor noted.

Thanks to a wide collaboration of church groups and the work of Colleyville-based All-Star Restoration, the 11,000-square-foot facility is the same size as what was destroyed. Everything had to be rebuilt from the foundation up.

All-Star Restoration specializes in working with volunteer groups in constructing churches, Mahfood said.

During their homelessness from January 2010 until a few weeks ago, Tyland shared the facilities of the nearby independent Willowbrook Baptist Church. Tyland was running about 120 people on Sunday, and Willowbrook about 35.

“Our normal service time bumped back to 9:30 a.m. and they moved theirs up to 11 a.m.,” Mahfood noted. “They had Sunday School while we had church, and then we traded places at 11. They did not have Sunday evening services and we did, so there was no conflict there.”

Mahfood said the two church staffs became close during their 18 months of shared space, with their pastor, Lloyd McCaskill, a 45-year veteran preacher, mentoring and sometimes spurring on the younger Mahfood during an uncertain time.

“Talk about the Lord blessing me with a mentor in an older pastor. It was a tremendous blessing,” Mahfood said. “It was just good, really sweet. We miss them.”

Tyland Baptist was the fourth in a string of 10 church structures arsonists hit across East Texas in January 2010. On Jan. 10 of this year, Jason Robert Bourque, 20, of Lindale, and Daniel George McAllister, 22, of Ben Wheeler, were each sentenced to life plus 20 years after pleading guilty to the crimes.

Four of the burned churches were Southern Baptist: Lake Athens Baptist Church in Athens, Little Hope Baptist Church in Canton, Tyland Baptist, and Dover Baptist Church in rural Smith County.

Mahfood said church members are “just completely pumped. They have been so supportive and unified during the process. In the last year we have buried 12 of our members, but the Lord has also sent 12 new members to us. We are a stronger congregation because of the difficulty.”

Also, Mahfood said his priorities have been reordered by the arson.

“A lot of things that were important before the fire don’t even make it on the radar now. It’s easy to say ‘The Lord will provide,’ but when you are actually in that situation, you realize how concrete his promises are. We had nothing. We had to turn to the Lord, and he brought us through. You always believe it, but now we know it.”