BATON ROUGE - St. Luke's Episcopal Church invited parishioners to join a historic celebration on Sunday as it broke ground on the new St. Luke's Church building and Pope Hall after a fire destroyed the original church building in 2024. 

Services have since been held in Witter Hall, a shared space with the church school, as the church worked on plans for the new building. 

“This groundbreaking is more than just the start of construction; it’s the first visible sign of resurrection after the loss," rector of St. Luke's Father Bryan Owen said. 

The Sunday service began with an All Saints' Day worship to honor the community's enduring faith before proceeding to the church slab, where ground was ceremonially broken on the new building. 

"Almost nothing inside the church survived the fire, but what did, the cremains of our loved ones in the columbarium, a few sacred vessels, and a cross warped by flame, will now become part of the new space."

The new building will feature improvements to multiple areas, including the narthex, the sanctuary and choir space and a new commercial-grade kitchen.

The church, founded in 1956, has been part of the community for over 60 years.