Arson Possible in Church Blaze

The Christmas Day fire at Calvary Lutheran Church in Santa Ana appeared suspicious, fire investigators said Monday, adding that it would take about a week to determine if it was intentionally set.

The fire charred the unoccupied church on West McFadden Avenue about 4 p.m. Saturday, dispossessing the 30-member Lutheran congregation and the 150-member Saigon Reformed Presbyterian Church, which began sharing the church eight years ago.

Pastor Hillard Weiss, leading insurance investigators through the charred structure on Monday afternoon, remained upbeat.

Weiss, 73, and his wife moved to Orange County from Florence, Ore., to build a church from scratch, opening the A-frame sanctuary in 1962.

“You can be all upset, but it isn’t going to put it back, so we’ll look for bigger and better,” Weiss said. “We’ll rebuild -- more might come out of this.”

By the time firefighters were called Saturday, flames had charred the interior and were coming out of the windows. It took about 20 minutes to contain the blaze, which caused $1 million in damage to the structure, furniture and other items inside, said Santa Ana Fire Capt. Dave Thomas.

Weiss was sitting in his office, a small house about 25 feet from the church, when he heard popping noises and the sound of glass shattering on the concrete walkway outside.

He went outside and saw flames coming out of triangular stained-glass windows above the door.

Just 20 minutes earlier, Weiss had been walking through the 150-seat church, making sure lights were turned off and the doors were locked. On his way out he had set up the coffee-maker so he could just flip it on for his parishioners the next morning.

Instead, on Sunday, Weiss invited his congregation into his living room for services. His wife, Katharine, played the piano.

If the timing of the blaze on a traditional Christian day of celebration bothered him, he didn’t show it.

“One day is no different than another,” he said. “The Lord’s got something going for us, and we’re more than willing to give it a shot.”

Meanwhile, members of the Saigon Reformed Presbyterian Church sat on folding chairs on the front lawn just a few feet from the yellow caution tape.

“We told them thank goodness it didn’t happen on Christmas Eve, because many hundreds of people were here then,” said Minister Bao Xuan Nguyen.

He had used the raised doorway to the church offices as his pulpit.

“We believe that nothing happens by chance,” he said. “So we don’t understand it now, but later on, God will tell us.”

In recent years, the Vietnamese ministry had added rows of new chairs and carpeting to the church.

Bao was at the site alongside Weiss on Monday, saying that his congregation considered the church its home and would help rebuild it.

“Many [people] have called to offer support, but we don’t know what we need now -- maybe a tent and some chairs,” Bao said.

Katharine Weiss stood outside the church picking up shards from the stained-glass windows. Pieces once vibrant blue and purple were black.

She gazed into the structure’s dark interior, seeing the charred skeleton of a Christmas tree and the remnants of an organ encased in walnut in one corner.

“That’s 40 years of music in there. All my books, my binders. Everything was in there,” she said. “I even wrote a song for Sunday School. I did it in pencil. But I don’t have a copy of that. That’s gone too.”

The day wouldn’t end without some good news. As Katharine stood outside the church, Hillard Weiss came rushing out of the office with a big smile.

A stranger had just called, offering the church the use of an organ. “I told you,” he said, that things will work out.