Anti-LGBTQ+ arsonist convicted of setting fires that destroyed Episcopal church in Douglas, Arizona

[Episcopal News Service] A federal jury on July 11 convicted a 59-year-old man of setting the fires last year that destroyed St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Douglas, Arizona, and damaged the neighboring First Presbyterian Church.

The jury deliberated for about three hours before finding Eric Ridenour guilty of six counts in the May 22, 2023 fires, including arson, arson of property used in interstate commerce, obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs by fire and using fire to commit federal felony. The indictment, which had accused Ridenour of hate crimes, said he intentionally started the fires “because of his hostility toward their progressive doctrines, particularly their practice of having women and members of the LGBTQ community serve as church leaders.”

Each count carries a potential punishment of at least five years in prison. Sentencing is set for Oct. 22.

At the time of the fire, St. Stephen’s vicar was the Rev. John Caleb Collins, a gay man, and First Presbyterian’s pastor was a woman. Collins now is rector of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Mesa, Arizona.

Collins attended the three-day trial and was interviewed by a local television station afterward. He was the person who had welcomed Ridenour into the church some 18 months before the fire.

Collins said he didn’t regret showing love and hospitality toward Ridenour but does regret that the building, where generations of families had worshipped, is gone. “He has deprived us of seeing future generations baptized in that same, century-old sanctuary, but he will never stop us from baptizing people in the name of Jesus Christ,” Collins said.

The congregation now is worshipping in its parish hall, which survived the fire.

Arizona Bishop Jennifer Reddall issued a statement to the diocese after the jury’s verdict. “This concludes one chapter of the recovery from that traumatic event in the lives of the congregations, the town and our diocese,” she wrote. Douglas is a town of about 16,500 people on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Reddall reaffirmed that The Episcopal Church is a place that welcomes people into ministry and mission, no matter their gender or sexuality, and that the Diocese of Arizona will continue to follow Jesus in welcoming all people, “even when it makes us vulnerable to the actions of a hateful few.”

While noting that the two Douglas churches are “continuing to thrive, to discern, to worship and to minister to their community,” she asked for continuing prayers for them. “May this clarity about the origin of those terrible fires provide closure to those most affected.”

— Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.