Fire damage forces Austin UMs
to move service into church annex




Members of St. Mark’s UMC, Austin, are worshiping in the church annex until their sanctuary can be repaired.
An early-morning fire March 10 destroyed the church offices and caused smoke and water damage to the sanctuary. Investigators have ruled the fire, which resulted in $350,000 in damage, arson.
The Rev. Patricia Zaiontz-Newcomer, pastor, told KVUE in Austin that the “congregation right now is very angry and very sad.”
“It’s hard for church people to figure out the mindset of someone who would break into a church or steal things from a church or vandalize a church or set a church on fire,” she told the station. “We just can’t get the mindset of who would do that.”
But Newcomer said her congregation would rise above the destruction.
Investigators believe thieves set fire to the building to cover their theft of compact disk players, DVD players and other electronics they could pawn. Intruders apparently entered the church by breaking a window.
No one was injured in the 5:30 a.m. blaze. Structure damage was estimated at $250,000, with $100,000 in damage to the church’s contents. Other parts of the church suffered smoke damage.
St. Mark’s lost records covering most of its 50-year history, Newcomer said.
Sanctuary repairs should take at least a month, she said. Church offices won’t reopen for at least six months. A temporary office has been set up in the church community building.
Just after Christmas last year, the church was vandalized in the same way, Newcomer said.