Assyrian Church keeps the faith after fire

Parishioners vow to rebuild sanctuary consumed by flames Friday.

 TARZANA - They had survived a millennium of religious persecution and the exodus from the Middle East.

But on the first Sunday after a raging fire tore through the Tarzana sanctuary that many considered their second home, members of the San Fernando Valley’s largest Assyrian church said they will do as they have always done: stand strong in their faith.