Vandalism South Carolina

Ammie Murray noticed the car out of the corner of her eye. There was something odd about it. The car was an aging maroon Pontiac. It was parked on a narrow side road that led off into a swamp along the Congaree River. People used those rutty old roads to go fishing. The odd thing was that the car was full, at a dead stop and facing out. That made her uneasy, but she drove on, at 30 mph or so, over the sand and the washouts that covered Old State Road.

It stands in a glen, resplendent in red bricks, its roof and windows trimmed in white. It stands dauntless and defiant, against all odds. A new St. John Baptist Church has risen from charred masonry blocks, twisted metal and ashes. Its tiny black congregation, 40 strong, and a sanctuary full of visitors gathered Sunday to celebrate and give thanks. Since colonial times, four St. John churches have been devastated in this patch of countryside near Columbia, S.C.

It stands in a glen, resplendent in red bricks, its roof and windows trimmed in white. It stands dauntless and defiant, against all odds. A new St. John Baptist Church has risen from charred masonry blocks, twisted metal and ashes. Its tiny black congregation, 40 strong, and a sanctuary full of visitors gathered Sunday to celebrate and give thanks. Since colonial times, four St. John churches have been devastated in this patch of countryside near Columbia, S.C.

Ammie Murray noticed the car out of the corner of her eye. There was something odd about it. The car was an aging maroon Pontiac. It was parked on a narrow side road that led off into a swamp along the Congaree River. People used those rutty old roads to go fishing. The odd thing was that the car was full, at a dead stop and facing out. That made her uneasy, but she drove on, at 30 mph or so, over the sand and the washouts that covered Old State Road.