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.