UPDATE (6pm): According to reports in the local paper, a 12 year old has been arrested and charged. No motive has been made public yet. The parish’s Facebook page is asking for prayers for her.

Tragically we have learned that the arsonist was a young person, who was crying out for help in a very desperate way…. Posted by St Johns Episcopal Church in Huntington WV on Tuesday, April 18, 2017

St John’s Episcopal Church in Huntington, West Virginia, was attacked by arson on the evening of Easter Monday.

They say on their Facebook page:

On Monday evening someone broke into the church and set a fire to our altar. We give thanks to God for the fire fighters, police, neighbors and parishioners who responded. Tuesday night, 7 pm come pray with us as we grieve for our loss but also celebrate all that was not lost. In this Easter time we gaze at ashes and still proclaim: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

A later update says that insurance will cover the damage caused by the fire. A community meal scheduled for Wednesday has been cancelled, but a prayer service will be held tonight at 7pm at the church.

St John’s website is here. Photos via St John’s Episcopal Church in Huntington, WV on Facebook.

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