Three years ago, the century-old Prince of Peace Baptist Church in Strawberry Mansion was decimated by a six-alarm fire that investigators blamed on electrical-wiring issues. The blaze sent off plumes of smoke visible for neighborhoods and fiery debris onto nearby rooftops.Sitting on a stoop across Berks Street, churchgoer Charles Jones recalled the damage that sent parishioners to temporary trailers around the corner to worship. What Jones saw yesterday was a steady stream of men, women and children heading into a newly built church and community center for a “Church Anniversary” doubling as a rebirth.“It’s so beautiful, outside and inside,” he said. “I thank God for everybody who helped rebuild that with all my heart.”Across the street, choir-members wearing gold-and-purple robes sang inside a worship area with walls matching the cinder blocks under their makeshift trailers, an in-ground aquarium leading to the altar and a wall-mounted television airing live shots of the service and Pastor Robert Shipman’s words.Shipman’s assistant, Valerie Latimore-Allen, said the rebuilding mirrors — and helps — an improving neighborhood around them. In recent weeks, they’ve held events thanking donors and neighbors. Yesterday was the start of returning to normalcy in their new digs.Follow Brian Hickey on Twitter @MetroBHickey.
