OKLAHOMA - A church serving a predominantly black congregation was destroyed by fire yesterday in Enid, Oklahoma, and police said the blaze appeared to have been arson, adding to a wave of such burnings in the South.
President Clinton invited southern governors to the White House next week to map a strategy aimed at stopping the epidemic of fires that have burned down 36 predominantly black churches.
"They destroyed completely the fellowship hall, and when I left a few minutes ago, it was burning in the sanctuary, so I'm fairly certain that it's going to be... total destruction," the pastor of the First Missionary Baptist Church, the Rev Alfred Baldwin, said.