Fire and Hope in Pine Lake

Here's a follow-up article on the 1996 arson at Pine Lake Baptist Church.

Green, Melissa Fay. (1996, July or August). Fire and hope in Pine Lake. Atlanta Journal/Constitution, A11.

Throughout our history, racial intolerance has sparked church burnings. But today, amid a new rash of these acts of hate, a spirit of hope is rising from the ashes. 

Red-brick, white-steepled Pine Lake Baptist Church-- 10 miles east of Atlanta, a stone's throw from Stone Mountain-- dignifies an intersection otherwise offering speedboats, Amoco gas, Yamahas, and emission inspections. Last month, a 48-year-old sanctuary on the church grounds burned to the ground. The cause of the fire is undetermined, the investigation ongoing, but the spotlight the incident has thrown on this community is enlightening, for Pine Lake tells a very different tale that recently conveyed by the outbreak of black church burnings.