Pastors often burn their own churches. It generates insurance money for a money losing church. That their being investigated for arson tells us nothing about the perp(s).
“Pastors often burn their own churches.”....
While I understand your stated reason for these fires as a possibility, you DO HAVE PROOF that this is what is the REAL reason or is it just “hear say”?
Sad but true. In a Catholic Church near me this happened, about 10 years ago. The pastor was a flaming gay whose boyfriend had moved into the rectory. Between the two of them, they bled the Church dry with trips to Hawaii, the Bahamas, the casinos, etc., not to mention payments to their drug dealers.
When folks demanded to look at the books, all of a sudden there was a BIG church fire. A great diversion!
I don’t remember what happened after. No criminal charges. The boyfriend moved out of town. The pastor was sent “out west” for drug rehab. He is still an authorized priest, and shows up occasionally at a wedding or funeral.
Go figure!