Rockingham Co. teen sentenced to help rebuild church he set on fire

STOKESDALE, N.C. -- On Monday a teenager in Rockingham County was sentenced for setting fire to Gideon Grove United Methodist Church.

The pastor was present for the sentencing and said she forgives him.

"I offered Harley my forgiveness," Rev. Wanda Lancaster said. "Not everyone is ready to forgive him. It was a lot of hurt when we stood here, and we watched the church burn."

Just days before Christmas last year, then 17-year-old Harley Fulp broke a window in the back of the church, poured gasoline inside and threw a match.

Nothing could be saved of the 115-year-old house of worship. Today, the sacred ground is nothing but a field of weeds.

But not for long. The congregation will gather this weekend to break ground on its new sanctuary.

"The church burned down Saturday, Dec. 22 ,and so this Sunday, Dec. 22, we'll break ground," Lancaster said. "So we're celebrating instead of remembering the bad."

Part of the judge's sentencing requires Fulp to help rebuild the church. Construction costs are well over $1 million, and insurance won't cover it all. But the church said they're holding on to faith.

"One of the lessons we learned is that the church is not a building, the church is the people, and they learned, the congregation learned, the hard way," Lancaster said.

Lancaster is also hoping Fulp will learn a few lessons from the judge's unique sentencing.

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Rockingham Co. teen sentenced to help rebuild church he set on fire