Historic Phoenix Church That Provided Shelter Destroyed

Wayne Wynter was startled awake early Sunday morning when he received a phone call from a fellow pastor with news so dire he had to see it for himself.

It wasn’t long before Wynter found himself standing in front of the charred remains of his church’s community outreach center, a large two-story building near 19th and Glenrosa avenues in Phoenix that served as a place to shelter the homeless from the heat, hold small-business classes and host youth sports programs.

Although the building remained largely intact thanks to the quick response of firefighters, nearly everything inside was destroyed. A gymnasium was built in the 1960s and was an architecturally significant space, according to Alison King, an Arizona mid-century design expert and founder of the website Modern Phoenix.

The fire broke out in the middle of the night, cause unknown

Ashes now clung to the once pristine white brick walls, and the reddish-brown wood that made up the center’s roof was completely black. The basketball hoops that hung from the ceiling had shattered, and all the food, clothing, toiletries, and the hundred or so cots inside had been destroyed.

“All the equipment we used to serve the community was there,” Wynter said. “And it looked like it had all been burned.”

Wynter said he and his fellow pastors have not yet taken a complete inventory of everything they have stored in the community center.

Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Capt. Rob McDade said firefighters responded to the area around 1 a.m. and discovered a fast-moving fire that appeared to have started in the building’s gymnasium before spreading to classrooms on the first and second floors.

The department provided videos of firefighters’ efforts to extinguish the blaze, which featured large clouds of smoke billowing from the building.

McDade said no injuries were reported and firefighters extinguished the blaze before it spread to surrounding buildings.

Wynter said he was relieved no one was killed or injured. Homeless people were welcome in the community center during the day, but the building was closed and empty at night.

“The church is the people, that is us,” Wynter said. “We always have a smile on our faces. Yes, there are tears and crying, but there are smiles because we understand that this is a building. A building will be rebuilt and a building will be repaired. God’s mission continues and we can continue to accompany him in whatever way and in whatever capacity.”

Wynter said police were looking for signs of forced entry, but investigators did not give him an estimate of how long it would take to identify the cause of the fire.

Pastor: ‘God gave us the building’ to provide space for others

In 2014, the American Evangelical Lutheran Church donated the building to Wynter’s church, Alhambra Beloved Community Church, a nondenominational Christian congregation, after its own congregation declined. Wynter said the American Evangelical Lutheran Church wanted to give the building to another, more active church rather than sell it.

Wynter said his church partners with outside nonprofits that can provide important services to the community, but cannot afford to own or lease its own building.

“We feel like God gave us this building,” Wynter said. “We want to repurpose and utilize this space. If there’s a nonprofit that can serve the community but needs a rent break or needs to find a solution, we want to talk to them.”

Josh Dailey, executive pastor of Alhambra Beloved Community Church, said his main mission is to figure out how he can help the nonprofits they partner with that no longer have the space and supplies to serve the community.

“That’s the biggest concern right now,” Dailey said. “A lot of nonprofits have used this space to work through the church here, and so we want to make sure they can get back to business quickly.”

Dailey said anyone who wants to donate money or supplies can do so on the church’s website or through another nonprofit it runs, called Starts With The Heart.

The question of when reconstruction could begin remained an enigma.

“It happened this morning,” Wynter said. “So we have no idea how long it’s going to take. We have to go through all the steps. … We’re praying that it’s going to be quicker, you know, that’s our prayer. But right now, it’s just today.”

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