According to Bishop Jack Wisor, Friday morning’s fire in Snyder Township destroyed the church and office at the “Just for Jesus” church and homeless shelter.
Bishop Wisor released a statement on the fire, which said, in part:
“I have continued to serve the homeless and needy, 2500 of them in the last 21 years. While the church and office are a loss, I will continue moving forward to continue God’s work as He leads, guides and provides.”
Fire crews from multiple counties were dispatched to the church around 3:30 a.m. Friday, according to 911 dispatchers.
Route 28 was closed for a short time while crews extinguished the flames.
Dispatchers say a fire chief on scene reported that flames were “shooting through the roof” when crews arrived.
No injuries were reported in the blaze and the roadway has since reopened.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The church has provided shelter as a halfway house taking in people just released from prison.
In 2010 and 2011 the church was in the middle of controversy when it accepted a convicted murderer who was just released.
That led to lawmakers and the public having meetings about the services the church provided.
Since then several former residents of the halfway house were arrested for not registering as sex offenders who changed their address after leaving Just For Jesus.
Neighbors say its always a concern.
“We keep our doors locked. We watch anybody that we see walking on the road, which we see many people, they call them guests over there.
They have probably some decent kids that made a mistake, but there but they have some bad people too”
