The British did not burn churches with people inside during the Revolution. The director of the motion picture “The Patriot” explained in an article that he knew such an event never happened in the Revolution, but he wanted to convey the shock and outrage that burning a church produced in Revolutionary America. So, he explained, he borrowed a travesty from the SS in World War II. That much is Hollywood, not history.
However, British troops looted or burned numerous EMPTY churches during the Revolution as a terror tactic to neutralize Patriot/Whig communities. In South Carolina, for instance, during the 1780 campaign conducted by British Major James Weymess, British troops burned churches (and homes) from the Santee River delta all the way to the backcountry town of Cheraw.
Dissenter congregations (members of congregations that dissented or worshipped outside the Anglican Church) were favorite targets for church burning by British troops — especially the Prebyterians with their anti-royalty roots in the English civil wars.
The British church burning practice in South Carolina — no people, just buildings — was indeed shocking, and the tactic backfired, converting droves of potential Loyalists into supporters of the Revolution. It increased Patriot resistance, undermined the British Southern strategy and ultimately contributed to American victory.