SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (AP) — The pastor of a small-town Texas church that was the site of a massacre plans to demolish the building.

Pastor Frank Pomeroy told leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention that it would be too painful to continue using First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs as a place of worship. A national Southern Baptist Convention spokesman said Pomeroy discussed the plan this week with the denomination’s top executives who had traveled to the community in a show of support.

The spokesman, Sing Oldham, said Pomeroy expressed hope he could turn the site into a memorial for the more than two dozen people who were killed last Sunday and build a new church on property the church owns.

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