Pastor speaks out on problems prior to church fire

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A fire destroyed a church on Tuesday, but questions are now arising about if it was a faulty air conditioning system or if it was something else.

WREG spoke with the owner of the building and the pastor of the church who told two different stories about what was happening before the blazes broke out.

A pile of rubble is left where Revival Temple Ministries once stood. But just 2 weeks before these flames broke out, a WREG photographer, at the request of Pastor James Moore, toured the church to see what the pastor called ongoing maintenance issues with toilets, ceilings, and floors that he says the landlord wouldn’t fix.

“This is the AC Unit that is supposed to control the left side of the sanctuary that has not been fixed. We have asked for this to be fixed,” the pastor said.

Two weeks later the church went up in flames. The building is owned by FP Memphis LLC and they have an office right next door.

WREG reported on FP Memphis just 2 years ago when our Problem Solvers confronted the owner Todd Frankel about another problem property in the same area and 30 failed inspections we found at some of the 17 properties he owns.

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“I come in here. I have taken an area that was a … and turned it into what’s a very good area,” Frankel said.

Frankel talked to WREG by phone from California on Friday about the church fire, disputing the claims that he ignored maintenance requests.

“There was nothing that was out of working order in the property,” Frankel said.

In fact, Frankel says he was in the process of evicting Revival Temple and Pastor Moore.

“He always was late on his rent,” Frankel said. “And would promise us the rent and he wouldn’t pay it. Then it rolled on a few months he was overdue on his rent.

But the pastor tells a very different story saying that his church was never behind on rent.

“We made the agreement to pay half at the beginning and the other half at the end. Before the next month comes in,” the pastor said. “Our church was never behind.”

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The Memphis Fire Department says the fire was caused by a malfunction in the AC unit and was accidental.

But Frankel said he had a new air conditioning installed a year ago.

“The unit was not installed by an AC Company. The unit was installed by the maintenance team of FP Memphis,” the pastor said.

“Its a new system that came in 12 months ago,” Frankel said. “I do not know what he is talking about. We spent a lot of money on that and it was installed professionally.”

Frankel says now he wants the fire investigated.

“I can tell you though that arson has become the number one potential reason for the church burning down,” Frankel said.

WREG asked the Fire Department and ATF if the fire is being investigated as possible arson but we are waiting to hear back. The building owner also says the church was subleasing to another church and that is not allowed in the lease.

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