At First Baptist Dallas, construction workers have embarked on the painstaking work of demolishing and preserving high-value pieces of the church’s historic sanctuary, which was heavily damaged in a July fire.

The 134-year-old sanctuary, located in the heart of downtown Dallas, served as the church’s primary place of worship for over a century before an expansion was completed in 2013.

Church officials hope the rebuild of the sanctuary will be finished by Easter 2028, executive pastor Ben Lovvorn told The Dallas Morning News.

Lovvorn said the church doesn’t have a cost estimate for the rebuild due to the unique nature of the project. The church is currently running a fundraising campaign with a goal of $95 million for “our 2025-2026 ministry budget, the reconstruction of the Sanctuary, and the enhancement of our church campus,” according to its website.

For now, the charred sanctuary is a shell of its former self. Over the past few months, construction workers have hollowed out the building’s interior. Cranes and piles of debris now sit on concrete that used to be the sanctuary’s basement floor.

“While we treasure the memories and spiritual milestones that so many have experienced in our Historic Sanctuary, we are even more excited about what God is doing in our church today,” Robert Jeffress, senior pastor, told The News in a statement.

“This construction project is a reminder to us that First Baptist Dallas has always been and will continue to be a church built on the Bible,” he said. “With Scripture as our foundation and Jesus Christ as our cornerstone, we believe our greatest days of ministry are still ahead of us.”

Four-alarm fire

On the evening of July 19, a four-alarm fire destroyed much of the historic sanctuary. Firefighters say the fire started in the building’s basement.

A spokesperson for Dallas Fire-Rescue confirmed Saturday that the cause of the fire remains undetermined.

First Baptist Dallas plans to preserve two of the building’s remaining walls with the hope of incorporating them into the new structure, Lovvorn said. The church, he said, is “working to preserve as much of the exterior of the building as possible” but must remove a third wall that was compromised in the fire.

Demolition began in November. Now workers are removing pieces of the north wall’s stone and decorations, sometimes by crane, before remaining bricks are pushed off into piles on the ground.

On Friday, a crane scraped pieces of brick off the top of that wall, moving the fragments to a pile at the wall’s base enveloped by clouds of dust.

“We’ve had crews out there who are removing a lot of that stonework very prudently and strategically, even by hand, to make sure that it is preserved,” Lovvorn said. “It’s different than going in with some wrecking ball and just knocking everything down.”

A dozen demolition workers are working at the site six days a week, while lanes on Ervay Street have been blocked off for the project.

Surviving stained glass

Much of the building’s stained glass was destroyed or damaged in the July fire, Lovvorn said. Surviving pieces have been removed and are being housed at a Waco facility. The church hopes to use the stained glass in the rebuild, he said.

The church is also preserving items that carry special religious significance, including an image of a Bible and an anchor carved into the stone on the north wall, and fleur-de-lis, decorative pieces that rest atop many parts of the building’s exterior.

“The fleur-de-lis represents the lily and reminds us of Christ’s resurrection,” Lovvorn said.

The image of the Bible and anchor was part of the sanctuary built in 1908, according to Lovvorn. The image reminds “our church that Scripture and God’s word is our anchor and foundation,” he said.

“The majesty of it”

The reconstructed sanctuary will be modeled after the 1908 design of the building, which has been through four remodelings, Jeffress told The News in October. “I think once people see the majesty of it, they will understand why we went that way,” he said.

The church selected the Beck Group, one of Dallas’ best-known design and construction companies, to lead the rebuild.

First Baptist Dallas worked with the Beck Group on two recent projects, including the $130 million expansion of several of their downtown buildings, finished in 2013.

“That building represents a lot of spiritual milestones in people’s lives,” Lovvorn said of the historic sanctuary. “So our design is intended to honor and remember the history of our church and what God has done in that place.

“But also to look toward the future.”

Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.

Defenseman Thomas Harley scored on a rebound at 3:01 of overtime and the Dallas Stars beat the Utah Hockey Club 3-2 on Saturday night.

Jamie Benn and Oskar Bäck also scored for the Stars, who have won four straight for the first time since opening the season with four wins. Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston each had two assists, and Jake Oettinger made 33 saves.

Matias Maccelli scored twice and Karel Vejmelka stopped 26 shots as Utah lost for the sixth time in seven games (1-4-2).

In overtime, Harley lifted the puck into the net after Vejmelka stopped a shot by Matt Duchene at the crease. It was Harley’s 21st career goal — fourth in overtime — 155 games.

Maccelli tied it 1-1 just 1:14 after Benn put the Stars ahead 16 seconds into the second period. Bäck put the Stars ahead 2-1 with 9 1/2 minutes remaining in the second, and Maccelli tied it again 3:07 later with his second two-goal game and fifth goal of the season.

Maccelli scored for the first time since Nov. 7, going 23 games without a goal. Bäck scored for the first time since Nov. 14, going 22 games without a goal.

Takeaways

Utah: An 11-shot third period with the score tied kept them in the game.

Stars: The Stars are 23-2-1 in their past 26 games combined against Utah and its predecessors, the Arizona Coyotes.

Key moment

Oettinger stretched for a glove save on Lawson Crouse about two minutes into overtime.

Key stat

Dallas killed the game’s only penalty. The Stars have the best home penalty kill in the league and have allowed one power-play goal in 26 chances over the last 12 games.

Up Next

Stars play at the New York Rangers on Tuesday to open a five-game trip, and Utah hosts Florida on Wednesday to start a season-high seven-game homestand.

The Dallas Cowboys had a ton of issues heading into last offseason. One that was at the forefront was the running back position and what their plan was going forward. Tony Pollard was set to be a free agent, and the 2024 NFL Draft had quite the selection of players at running back that Dallas could have chosen from. When free agency came, the Cowboys let Pollard walk and sign with the Tennessee Titans. They also went through the entire draft without selecting a running back and signed Nathaniel Peat as an undrafted rookie free agent.

They brought in veteran Royce Freeman to compete, and signed former first-round pick Ezekiel Elliott for his second stint with the organization. Lastly, back in August, the Cowboys signed veteran Dalvin Cook to their practice squad. By the time the regular season came around, Peat and Freeman were no longer on the roster. This left the Cowboys with Elliott and Cook, two veterans that had seen better days. Deuce Vaughn, who hadn’t consistently shown anything yet, was also on the roster. Then, there was Rico Dowdle, who hadn’t proven that he could consistently stay healthy. That wasn’t exactly an ideal situation at the running back spot.

What made this situation so frustrating is that it was completely avoidable. Although the Cowboys didn’t have a fourth-round selection, there was plenty of running back talent on the board in the first three rounds, and not getting one was a total lack of evaluating the room as a whole. However, that was the way Dallas wanted to move, which would once again put more responsibility on quarterback Dak Prescott and the passing game.

Elliott got the start in the season opener against the Cleveland Browns, and to his credit, he looked pretty decent running for 40 yards on 10 carries. Over the next four games, though, Elliott averaged less than three yards per carry in three of them. Meanwhile, Dowdle put up over four yards per carry in each, which included an 87-yard performance in a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is around the time that Elliott voiced his frustration with his role with the team. As a result, although he averaged five yards per carry against the Detroit Lions the next week, Dowdle only got five attempts while Elliott got eight. Mind you, he only amassed two yards per attempt. The Cowboys offense was already limited with a lack of talent and no real plan when it came to running the ball, but to purposely not use your most effective runner didn’t make any sense.

Dowdle didn’t play against the San Francisco 49ers due to an illness. The Cowboys finally smarten up and made Dowdle the unquestioned lead back in November, which is when he took off. He goes into the final week of the season with four 100-yard games in the last five weeks, and he’s also hit the 1,000 yard mark for the year. While that’s great for Dowdle, seeing as he’s in a contract year, he may have priced himself out of Dallas with how frugal they are in free agency. So, if he is to go elsewhere, the Cowboys will once again be left in dire straits at the running back position.

It’s pretty simple for the Cowboys. They can’t let the 2025 NFL Draft go by without getting a running back. In fact, they may even need to consider double-dipping at the position with how deep it is and how much they need quality talent in the room. The only thing is, the Cowboys need to fill a lot of holes, and they don’t make a lot of moves in free agency, which makes the draft where they do the most damage. They’re without a fourth-round pick again in 2025. So, it will be interesting to see how they address the needs or if they value the running back spot to invest seriously in it.

Building a roster is difficult enough in the NFL, and the Cowboys have made it harder on themselves when it comes to having a quality rushing attack.