An early-morning fire at a historic Midtown church is under investigation.
Fire and police crews surrounded First Congregational Church at 1000 S. Cooper on Sunday morning.
Mark Allen, who is married to church pastor Rev. Cheryl Cornish and does maintenance on the building, said a passerby alerted him to the fire about 5:30 a.m.
He described the fire as "not minor," though the building was structurally sound. The building sustained $250,000 worth of damage, with $100,000 of damage done to the contents, according to Memphis Fire.