07 Jun Arrests Made in Yesterday’s Park Layne Fire

Two men were arrested Tuesday, June 6, for starting a fire early that morning at the Park Layne UB church in New Carlisle, Ohio. Both men, David Taylor and Brandon Marlow, are accused of breaking into the church and setting it on fire. Investigators say tips from the community led to the arrests.

Tom Brodbeck, superintendent of Central Conference, visited the church site yesterday. He reports: “The building is a total loss. I didn’t go down into the basement, but the upstairs is gone. The fire was started in the pastor’s office, and everything there is a pile of ashes. All of [Pastor Roland Albert’s] books and files were lost. The front half of the sanctuary is ruined due to the heat. The keys on the organ are melted together. Things like hymnals and offering plates are singed or warped.”

The Bethel Township Fire Department has offered its firehouse to the church as a temporary worship facility. Prince of Peace UB church in Springfield, about 20 miles away, offered Park Layne the use of its facility. However, according to Brodbeck, “At this time, the church is thinking that if the weather is good, it would like to worship in a shelter house on its property as a symbol to the community that it is still present.”

Brodbeck offered two interesting side notes. “Auglaize Conference had three churches built from the same set of blueprints: Park Layne, Otterbein, and Monroe. Arson fires have now happened in two of those churches. The fire at Otterbein led to the relocation of the congregation into what is now New Horizons Church (Rockford, Ohio).”

In addition, Park Layne is in the same cluster as the Pleasant Hill UB church near Muncie, Ind., which suffered a fire in May of 2005. Brodbeck says, “Pastor Roland Albert attended the May 7th dedication of the rebuilt Pleasant Hill Church and was rejoicing at how God used the ‘evil’ of a fire to bring about something wonderful for that congregation. He told me that he is certain God will do the same thing for Park Layne.”

Echoing that thought, Pastor Albert told a reporter, “We’re very positive. We know that God is in charge and we’re going to keep on doing what we do best and that’s saving souls.”