The Joplin Missouri Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was only one of several churches destroyed by the tornado that ripped through Joplin on Sunday afternoon, May 22, 2012.
Here's are details on those.
(We welcome any comments or corrections or updates on these -- especially concerning plans for their resconstruction.)
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| Peace Lutheran Church, 2002 Wisconsin Ave, before tornado |
Web post May 23, 2011: "There is nothing but floor and rubble. The organ and pews are piled up,’" said Bill Pape, pastor of the now-crumbled Peace Lutheran Church in Joplin. He said the 70 members of his church had reported no deaths or major injuries, but some are now homeless. Pape is searching for a location at which to hold worship next week.”
A Long Journey Of Faith: Walking With Joplin's Peace Lutheran Church
Huff Post Religion: 5/27/11 12:59 PM ET
Rev. Gerald L. Mansholt
Bishop, Central States Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
"I got home around 11:30 last night (May 25) following a trip to Joplin, Mo., and a visit with members of Peace Lutheran Church in Joplin, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). I serve as bishop for the ELCA Central States Synod in Kansas City, Mo.
I guess pictures never fully capture and convey what a situation is really like, and that's how I felt driving into Joplin and then seeing Peace Lutheran Church and the neighborhood around it. The May 22 tornado destroyed the congregation's building. The destruction is unbelievable, the landscape nothing but rubble. I heard one national disaster worker say this is the worst destruction he's seen since Katrina.
Those who experienced the tornado said it lasted so long, just kept blowing, sucking, destroying. I've never been in a war zone, but I've a feeling tornado-damaged Joplin is as at least as bad as the worst of war zones. One looks at the total devastation in awe of what kind of sky-borne monster could possibly have wrought this destruction.
What the city will do with all this debris is a huge question. But clean up cannot begin until the missing are accounted for. I understand the state has released a listing of more than 200 missing. Search and rescue teams were working their way through the neighborhoods.
I spoke with some young people on the parking lot of Peace. Two were from homes totally destroyed, as was their high school one block from Peace Lutheran. But their real sadness was in not knowing the whereabouts of a close friend. I thought of them later as I saw a rescue team crawling in and inspecting one of the hundreds of overturned and mangled autos.
Peace Lutheran will worship somewhere on Sunday, the place yet to be determined. Bill Pape, an ELCA pastor, and some leaders want badly to worship in their parking lot. But access might be limited, traffic moves extremely slow, and the visit of President Obama on Sunday will present other logistical problems. But worship they will, somewhere. Janice Kibler of my staff will be there with them and again bring words of comfort and support of the larger church.
No members of Peace were killed though several (four to six) had homes totally or partially damaged. One, Kathrin Elmborg, 82, was featured in a Kansas City Star article yesterday. She lives across the street from Peace, and survived in an interior room. She's a hearty soul and her story is one of the mysterious and miraculous wonders of these disasters, how one is taken and another lives.
About 30 or so people from Peace gathered for the 6:30 meeting at Missouri Southern State where Congregation President Judy Stiles works. After I led them in prayer, we listened to their stories and experiences, all varied, all moving. But then the conversation shifted to the future clean up, rebuilding, next steps. I expect there will be much more grieving in the weeks and months to come as the magnitude of the loss, the reality of the situation and the challenges before them sink in. The folk were deeply grateful for our visit.
Governor Nixon has been onsite as have been some national FEMA officials. The challenges for Joplin are enormous, a community where suddenly 3,000 homes no longer exist, 500 businesses no longer exist, and a high school and four elementary schools no longer exist. Gov. Nixon, a United Methodist member, expressed his own sense of this burden and need for strength from beyond.
We had magnetic Lutheran Disaster Response signs on the side of our vehicles. People noticed, and one driver gave us the thumbs up as we passed along the street.
I made a quip last night comparing our work to long distance running, not realizing that also was Lutheran Disaster Response. But that is how Kevin Massey, director of Lutheran Disaster Response, describes the work. Lutheran Disaster Response will be the last to leave. Last night was just the first step in what will be a long journey of walking with the people of Peace Lutheran Church and the city of Joplin."
Church mail is being forwarded, so items may still be sent to the church. The church e-mail address is being monitored, so messages may be sent to Peace at peaceluth@hotmail.com .
The church is currently (Jan. 9, 2012) having worship services at Bethany Presbyterian Church, 20th & Virginia, at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday.
On Sunday, Jan. 29, Bishop Gerald Mansholt will be in attendance at the worship services and the following pot luck luncheon. Members will have an opportunity to visit with the bishop about the future of Peace Lutheran Church.
- St. Mary's Catholic Church
Catholic San Francisco Online Edition, May 25, 2011
Joplin pastor survives direct tornado hit to church by jumping in the bathtub
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St. Mary's at 2415 South Moffet Avenue, in
direct path of tornado. |
"JOPLIN, Mo. -- St. Mary’s pastor Father Justin Monaghan survived a direct hit by a tornado that destroyed the church, school and parish buildings, by jumping in the rectory bathtub when he felt things start to shake. Father Monaghan’s parishioners dug him out -- spotting him by a stick he was waving above the rubble.
The deadliest tornado in more than 60 years destroyed as many as 30 percent of this city’s buildings on May 22, and severely damaged the nine-story St. John’s Regional Medical Center, which was directly in the path of the tornado, variously described as being from a half mile to a mile and a half wide. At St. John’s hospital, five patients who had earlier been admitted in critical condition were killed. A hospital worker was also killed.
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| The Cross at St. Mary's still stands. |
A St. Mary’s preschool student, her little brother and her father were killed when the Joplin Home Depot was struck, said Recy Moore, director of communications for the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau.
In all, the death toll in Joplin stood at 117 early in the week, with hundreds injured, although the toll was expected to climb higher as rescue workers continue their search amid the rubble for survivors and victims of the tornado that ripped through this city of 50,000 people in southwest Missouri.
“Looking at the site of the former parish hall, one would be hard-pressed to tell that the building was ever there, so great was its destruction,” said Bishop James V. Johnston of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, after a visit May 24 to St. Mary’s. “St. John’s Hospital was also devastated. So many homes and so many livelihoods have been affected. Please keep our brothers and sisters in your prayers, now and into the months ahead.
“Many of those working had been devastated themselves,” Bishop Johnston said. “Their selfless spirit was a shining example of how common suffering can bring out the best in the human person.”
Father Monaghan, who was completely unharmed, went to stay for a few days with his brother who is also a priest of the diocese. Both are from Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland, Moore said. “All he has left is a plastic trash bag with some things in it and his golf clubs, with an Easter egg from somewhere lodged in the handle,” said Moore.
At Joplin’s other Catholic church, St. Peter the Apostle, parish administrator Elizabeth Runkle, told Catholic News Service May 23, “St. Peter’s is fine. We’re OK. We didn’t have any damage. Everybody’s fine.” St. Peter has an outreach center that they’re trying to use to speed aid to victims, according to Eidson.
McAuley Catholic High School, which serves the city’s two parishes, escaped damage, Eidson said. It was being used as an overflow triage center.
In a message posted on his Facebook page the evening of the storm, Father John Friedel, St. Peter’s pastor, said: “Just got back from closing down the Catholic high school, which was opened as an overflow triage center. Our area of town was untouched, though the neighboring parish (20 blocks away) has probably lost their entire physical plant. ... I know you’ve all seen the footage of St. John’s, our Catholic hospital, which is probably also a total loss!”
Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri was in Joplin and seeking donations to aid tornado victims, Eidson added. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul also was coordinating its own relief efforts in the Joplin area, according to Eidson, who said the Convoy of Hope, which has a large operation in southwestern Missouri, had already established a base in Joplin.
Contributions are being made to: Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri, 601 S. Jefferson Ave., Springfield, MO 65806. Please note “tornado” or “Joplin” on the checks.
— Catholic San Francisco and Catholic News Service contributed to this story."
St. Mary's Catholic Church parish is currently meeting at St. Peter The Apostle Catholic Church at 812 S Pearl Ave., Joplin, MO. MASS SCHEDULE @ St. Peter’s
Saturday Vigil Mass—5:15 pm
Sunday—7:00, 9:00 and 11:15 am and 6:00 pm.
Monday through Thursday—7:00 am
Wednesday through Friday—8:30pm
Tuesday—6:00pm
COMMUNION SERVICES
Monday 8:30 am
Friday—7:00 am
- Harmony Heights Baptist Church
Tornado survivor details Harmony Heights tragedy
Friday,May27th, 2011
JOPLIN – With storm sirens sounding, Greg Hailey closed his Bible, put it safely in a nylon satchel and used it to rest his head.
Harmony Heights Baptist Church had no basement, but Hailey and 52 others took cover as a tornado interrupted their evening worship service May 22.
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| Greg Hailey took shelter in the church library. |
“There were about 10 or so of us in the library,” he said, “and there were others in the nursery. That’s the older part of the church with smaller rooms and better-built walls. We had maybe 10 minutes’ warning to take cover.”
The EF-5 tornado (wind speed 200- 322 mph) tore a 6-mile-wide swath through town, destroying 8,000 homes and businesses, injuring 900 and killing at least 125. Three of those 125 – three women – were taking shelter in the nursery in
Harmony Heights.
The
Harmony Heights building, at the intersection of
Indiana Ave. and
20th Street, is a total loss. The roof is nowhere to be found, the walls collapsed and there are two crumpled cars, one on top of the other, in the back of the auditorium. Hailey’s home did not suffer any damage, although his son’s was completely destroyed, as were several other church members’.
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| A view from the pulpit after tornado. |
“It was the typical noise: ‘It sounded like a freight train,’” he said. “Then you could hear glass breaking. Things were falling on my back, but I didn’t know what it was, you know? I could move, but I was laying stomach down and couldn’t see.”
Just seconds later, it was over.
“I started feeling rain and could suddenly see daylight,” he said. “I knew the worst had passed.”
From there, he and the others helped each other out of the wreckage, and they began searching for those that were missing or had lost their lives.
Hailey returned three days later to the pile of rubble that used to be the church’s building to search for the Bible he had to leave behind. After a few minutes picking through the splintered wood and shattered bricks, he found it as he was speaking to
The Pathway. Because it was in the water-resistant satchel, the Bible withstood the days of rain that followed the tornado.
“I knew where it was at,” he said. “I’m just glad I found it.”
Joplin church digging out, while mourning three killed in tornado
By Bill Webb
Friday, May 27, 2011
JOPLIN, Mo. (ABP) -- Thursday was something of a breakthrough day for the people of tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo. The sun came out around midday and travel restrictions within the area of massive destruction were all but dropped.
Residents were given a reprieve from the nasty weather that had plagued recovery efforts since the tornado had wreaked its havoc. And they took advantage of it.
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| Pastor Charlie Burnett and his wife, Ann. |
Home and business owners and volunteers flocked to destroyed houses and commercial structures, creating lines of crawling traffic but a beehive of activity across the ravaged town. Volunteers waved motorists to the curb, offering free meals and water. One group waved people over for free tetanus shots. Volunteers drove throughout devastated neighborhoods, passing out bottled water.
There also was activity where Harmony Heights Baptist Church once stood.
Four days earlier, bystanders came by minutes after a tornado flattened the building and helped pull Pastor Charlie Burnett and 52 other members from the rubble of Harmony Heights Baptist Church. On Thursday, Burnett and others gathered on the church parking lot.
Twenty-five feet away lay the flattened structure and behind it the congregation's four vans and cars of the families that had driven to services on that fateful evening last Sunday. Some had been flipped. All still littered the parking lot. One lay on rubble where the church had stood.
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| Harmony Heights Baptist Church at Indiana Ave.and 20th St. |
Three women died when a massive tornado smashed the structure. Marie Piquard and Grace Aquino were killed instantly, and Mona Bridgeford was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
More members could have perished, the pastor said. The church had no basement. After tornado sirens sounded, Burnett quickly concluded the evening service and instructed members to crouch against hallway walls.
The pastor and his wife, Ann, the church secretary, at the last minute slipped into the audio-visual room with another couple, but Ann said her husband was still looking after other members when the tornado pounded the church.
When it was over, "I heard people crying," Burnett said. "And within five minutes I heard strange voices -- voices I didn't recognize, 10 or 15 of them. They started moving boards and lifting beams" and valiantly pulled members from the wreckage.
Burnett, 68, who served the church as associate pastor for nine years and as pastor the past 16, could hear the young rescuers but he could not see them. He has been blind for the past three years.
As members were rescued from the rubble, cars pulled up to the church, and drivers invited cold, wet survivors to climb in to warm up, Burnett recalled.
Once freed, the pastor immediately reached out to a 13-year-old boy, one of a half dozen teens in the Sunday evening service. The boy's mother, Grace Aquino, was one of the three women who perished. Burnett took the boy for medical treatment before taking him home and breaking the news of his mother's death to the extended family.
"We grieve for those we lost for our sake," Burnett explained. But he acknowledged the congregation rejoiced that more were not killed or seriously injured.
"It has to be from God," Burnett said. "We had two broken ankles, one broken collarbone and two with pinched vertebrae," the only injuries beyond cuts and bruises among the 50 survivors. Fifty people walked away from the church "when it looked like they should have died," he said.
He admits he was too emotionally distraught to visit the church site the day after the tornado, but he has been by every day since. On Thursday, he, Ann and other members retrieved what items they could salvage. A vault containing most of the church's documents was found intact.
Earlier on Thursday, Baptist Student Union members from Missouri Southern State University sifted through the church's rubble to recover personal items like Bibles and purses for church members.
The church had insurance and expects "with a little help to build back," Burnett said. "We had just paid off the family life center," which was added about eight years ago.
The congregation already has established a fund to assist members who lost their homes when the tornado hit. Ann says at least 12 families were affected. The pastor and his wife said nearly every family has been accounted for.
Three churches have invited the congregation to use their facilities for worship until they rebuild. The congregation doesn't plan to meet on the Sunday after the tornado (June 5) but hopes to do so by the following Sunday (June 12).
Bill Webb is editor of Word and Way.
The congregation is currently meeting at Bethel Assembly of God, 5831 S. Main St., Sundays at 2 p.m.
- South Joplin Christian Church
- Empire Baptist Church
By Amrita Jayakumar, Jessica Schuster, Katrina Ball, Kathryn Landis
November 24, 2011 | 12:01 a.m. CST
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Morgan Sutton, 4, plays in Joplin’s CunninghamPark.
The structure is a giant wristband that was built
to commemorate the "miracle of the human spirit,"
which is etched in on the left side. ¦ Kathryn Landis |
JOPLIN — Six months after the May 22 tornado hit southwest Missouri, the people of South Joplin Christian Church and Empire Baptist Church are still trying to rebuild what was lost.
Their churches were damaged in the tornado, but the two congregations made it through with the strength of their community.
As the season of tradition approaches, they are thankful for one thing that hasn't changed — their faith.
SOUTH JOPLIN CHRISTIAN CHURCH (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST)
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Donated crosses adorn the basement wall
of South Joplin Christian Church. Tom Wheeler
arranged the crosses to form a larger cross
in the negative space. The church was
damaged in the tornado and reopened
its doors on Nov. 6. | AMRITA JAYAKUMAR |
Finding grace on a Sunday morning
"What is grace?" Kate Foster asks.
"Something you say before dinner," a member of the Bible study suggests.
Laughter fills the room.
A candle burns on the table because the electricity in the basement study room isn't working. No one seems to mind. The dim lighting helps them wake up slowly on a Sunday morning.
It's only the second Sunday for South Joplin Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to have services and activities in its original location, 1901 S. Pearl Ave. They are still working out kinks in the building.
Most of the people in this room probably say grace before every meal.
Those who don't are certainly not judged. The grace they say on holidays is enough for them right now. And that's OK.
During the study session, members of the group take turns reading statements about grace — grace and its different meanings, not just the grace said before dinner.
Every quote sparks a conversation about grace. Twelve people; 12 different thoughts.
Many of the statement are about God's grace. One man compares it to the love a parent gives a child. A woman compares it to Alcoholics Anonymous.
There is no consensus about the definition of grace, but it doesn't matter. The fact that it exists is the one thing everyone agrees on.
— Jessica Schuster
Well-meaning gestures can still be painful
Betsy Wheeler lives four houses off the tornado line. Her house was not destroyed, and her family is safe.
The first phone call she received after everything had settled down was from her father. He was calling to say how much he thanked God for watching over her.
It's a common condolence and a kind gesture that she has trouble accepting. She does not want to dismiss what her friends and family have said to her over the past six months, but she hasn't found a way to graciously tell them that isn't how she feels.
She sits on a bench in the corner of the adult Bible study at South Joplin Christian Church. She's behind the horseshoe table that seats most of the group. By the nature of the setup, almost everyone's back is to her. But they are all listening.
A tear wells up in her eye. It's barely visible across the dim basement room, but you can hear the pain in her voice.
"I can't accept it when people say that," she said. "Because He was watching over all of those who received damage and were in danger. Not just me."
Heads nod around the room.
The study group meets once weekly before the service and represents a variety of ages and stations in life. Today 12 adults gather in the small room. The door is shut, but it swings open regularly as people come and go, retrieving coffee and meeting family members outside.
There are long stretches of silence and a few disagreements, but no one’s opinion is wrong.
It feels safe. It feels calm. Wheeler's husband, Tom, sits facing the table. His wife is across the room, but the physical distance does not inhibit him from helping her finish her sentence.
"We are thankful that God saw that we were OK and that he moved on to others that needed him more," he said.
The Wheelers do not feel they directly suffered from the May 22 tornado, but they have been affected by it.
"We live on the edge of the line, and feeling on the edge of it is the perfect description," Tom Wheeler said.
— Katrina Ball
Pushing out the past with prayer
Across the basement, the members of the Fishers Bible study group — a group of older church members and previously the group for young married people — join hands.
"We're glad to have everybody," Harry Guinn, the group leader, says.
"It's good to be here," someone whispers.
"Harry, would you like to do our prayer for us?" Doris Guinn, his wife, asks.
"Father, we come to you this morning with thanksgivings and blessings in our heart," he says. The prayer lasts no longer than two minutes.
They shuffle back to their seats. Harry Guinn begins his lesson, 1 Samuel: 28.
"Now let me put you in a situation. We've just been through situations haven't we?"
Earlene Ivy, like others in the group, was in a situation six months ago. Now she sits in a metal chair three rows back.
"You're in a situation that you have no recourse by," Harry Guinn continues. "You have no activities that you can do to help yourself. None whatsoever."
In the aftermath of the tornado, Ivy couldn't pull herself from beneath eight feet of debris. She lay flat on the bathroom floor during the storm and knocked a wall and sink over her, creating a triangle to cover her and her miniature pinscher, Lucy.
"A savior appears, whether it be a worker, an angel, another person whom you know nothing about. How's it going to make you feel?" Harry Guinn asks the silent class members.
Ivy tried to call for help. She heard people above, but they couldn't hear her. Finally, she couldn't yell anymore. She asked God to make her ready to be with him. She's been a Christian all her life; this was her test.
"You're going to be frightened, you're going to be gratified because you're going to think, here is somebody to help you," Harry Guinn says.
Roy Winians, Ivy's neighbor, found her in the debris.
"Earlene, give me your hand," Winians told her.
"I can't, Roy. I've got the dog."
"Well, hand me the dog."
"I can't! She's on top of me!"
Out came Lucy, then Earlene.
"This happened to Joplin on May 22," Harry Guinn says as he winds up his point.
Ivy lost almost everything. A few photos were recovered, a cut-glass punch bowl with glasses and 12 plates of her remaining china, which she will use to set her table this Thanksgiving.
She is thankful to be alive, though she doesn't know why. But she believes God has a purpose. "When I find out, I'll tell you about it."
— Kathryn Landis
Six months of giving from remarkable strangers
The Christian Church was left standing but was seriously water-damaged during the tornado.
According to Judy Schneider, the old stones held the rainwater like an over-sized coffee mug. From the basement, she could see the sky through the two floors that were no longer there.
She tries to talk about the acts of generosity she has witnessed since the congregation began to repair the building. She is dumbfounded, and tears threaten her appearance of composure as she remembers.
A man from Springfield donated the bathroom counter in the women's restroom. Another man came with sandwiches in his backpack to give out to workers.
The contractor made a memorial video for the re-dedication service. Crosses were donated by church members and construction workers for a mural in the basement — a project that began before the tornado hit.
"People do that," Schneider said. She shared a poignant story.
On the first day of the clean-up, a woman came from Galena to help. The woman took the waterlogged memorial book from the library and made it her task to restore the contents.
One-by-one, she removed articles, obituaries, cards and other pieces of memorabilia, patted them dry with a paper towel and carefully reinserted them into the original book.
"It was literally pouring down rain through three stories onto our memorial book in the library," Schneider said.
"Without her doing that, our memorial book would have been gone."
— Kathryn Landis
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The choir warms up for Sunday service in
the basement of South Joplin
Christian Church. | KATHRYN LANDIS |
Finally coming home to a place of rest
The smell of new paint is everywhere, and the carpet in the church feels soft and lush.
It's still an hour before the Sunday service, but the corridors are already filled.
People stop to say hello, smile and exchange hugs. Some listen to the pianist warm up. Others go downstairs for coffee and Bible study. The children gather upstairs for Sunday school.
Before the tornado hit, there were already plans to renovate the church. The tornado forced church members to speed things up.
On Nov. 6, the church welcomed back its flock. Congregants had been sharing space with the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) while their church was being restored.
It was nice to come home, said Jennifer Reaves, a real estate agent and member of the congregation.
Reaves, 33, has lived in Joplin most of her life. Her wedding took place at the old church, the one her two young daughters will remember only through photos.
Although the church was severely damaged, she considers it a blessing.
"I'm thankful that my children get to grow up in this new, remodeled church," she said.
She sits in the basement before a bright red wall covered with crosses. The church began collecting them before the tornado, but they have poured in since.
The wall represents a fresh start.
— Amrita Jayakumar
Giving thanks for more than new windows
A large sheet of paper with the words "thank you" handwritten by at least 100 church members lies next to the Sunday programs.
At the bottom of the page is a drawing of a line of people with their arms extended to the edges of the paper. It resembles the image you get when people say, "I love you this much," then stretch their arms out as far as physically possible.
Tom Wheeler, a local art teacher and member of congregation, drew these characters. Their slightly goofy long arms and pastel-colored outfits can't help but bring a smile. Neither can Tom.
His eyes sparkle through round, metal-frame glasses as he talks about how First Christian Church shared their building with South Joplin Christian in the months after the tornado.
His drawing and the many expressions of thanks above it are for the First Christian Church.
On Nov. 20, South Joplin Christian hosted a re-dedication ceremony to celebrate the opening of the restored church and all of the people who helped during their time of need.
The church now has modern new windows to replace blue plastic windows that survived the tornado.
"We joked that they were so ugly, even God didn't want them," Wheeler said.
Tears threaten, but he keeps a smile on his face.
"I deal with things with humor because if not, I'll cry," he said.
— Jessica Schuster
Parents can't fix everything, but they can try
Sunday school is in session on the third floor. Wooden tables and tiny blue chairs line the wall. Angels, shepherds and kings giggle while rehearsing Bible stories.
Dia Skilas, 31, smiles as she interacts with the children.
She knows exactly what she's grateful for this Thanksgiving: Life.
She doesn't mean her own, but that of her daughter and her mother.
Nine-year-old Darby Skilas was performing at the local community theater on May 22. Her grandmother had come to watch her.
When the play was over, Dia Skilas left her job at St. John's Regional Medical Center to pick them up. That's when the tornado hit.
The hospital and theater were both in its path.
At least two people died in the theater that day. Darby flew into the air before a friend pulled her back to safety.
Dia Skilas is happy to be back home in the church with her family, teaching Sunday school.
The wind took a lot from this community. But on this Sunday, South Joplin Christian is thankful for what is still there.
— Amrita Jayakumar
EMPIRE BAPTIST CHURCH
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Webb Cityresident Glen Davidson walks out
of Empire Baptist Church’s temporary
location in Joplin. The church is holding services
in the building that is owned by the Spring
River Baptist Association. | AMRITA JAYAKUMAR |
A church endures without a steeple
From the outside, it looks like an elaborate garden shed.
Here, in a fluorescent-lit room, 20 members of the Empire Baptist Church sit at six round white tables.
The small metal building is owned by the Spring River Baptist Association, which is letting them use it until they have a church of their own.
The building is gone, but the church remains.
Like sheep without a pasture — or pastor — they needed time to regroup. Their pastor quit the morning of May 22.
There was no way for him to know how bad the day would be for the congregation.
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The sanctuary of Empire Baptist Church
in Joplin, Mo., was a total loss. |
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| Two men take a break on a pew intact after the tornado. |
On the second Wednes-day after the torna-do, a group of 15 met at Virginia Melton’s house to discuss the future. They left an hour and a half later, unanimous about continuing the church.
Over time, the church members had become complacent about the constant turnover of ministers and low attendance rates, Melton said. The tornado gave them a chance to start anew and grow.
They pray God will provide them with the money to rebuild. Insurance will not cover it all.
To make it through the tough times, they're leaning on their faith.
Despite their losses, they are thankful for what they have: interim minister Pat Jeffers, the congregation, the bond that has held them together and the knowledge that no one was lost.
"It's like I've got a battery that's run by God," Erselene Hamlin said. "If I don't go to church and hear his word, that battery is going to run down, and I've just got to keep it going."
— Kathryn Landis
Gently pushing forward under new hands
Pat Jeffers is serving his second term as an interim minister for Empire Baptist Church.
This time around, his job came with a problem he hadn't encountered before — how to help a congregation cope with the actual loss of their church.
Today, his sermon focuses on suffering, a topic that everyone in the room can understand. He sounds much like a football coach — stern, yet motivating and attentive.
Jeffers had his doubts at first. Doubts that Empire Baptist would stick to its plan to rebuild. He thought the extent of the loss coupled with the small size of the church would encourage members to find new churches to attend rather than regroup and rebuild.
Today those doubts no longer exist.
"They are determined to be back on that corner, and I'm excited to see them there," he said.
That determination might not exist if it weren't for Jeffers. He makes an effort to choose sermon topics that are meaningful to the congregation. This time, he knows how important this really is.
His first sermons after the tornado included a discussion of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes the rebuilding of Jerusalem from ruins.
The congregation has shown a keen interest in Jeffers' sermons. So much so, that he and his wife, Qene', started a Facebook page where the sermons are posted weekly.
Along with those messages, the page is filled with stories about the tornado and comments of love and compassion.
They demonstrate just how much every person wants to share the story as the congregation heals together.
— Jessica Schuster
When physical belongings are gone, what is there to turn to?
Glen Davidson of Webb City has been attending Empire Baptist for three years.
His home was not destroyed by the tornado, but he did lose his church, his boyhood home, the school he attended and the apartment complex where he met his wife.
He lists them off, stretching his fingers one at a time. None of the buildings actually belonged to him, but they belonged to him emotionally.
They make up the foundation of his memories. And those memories, those places, made Davidson who he is.
"Landmarks have disappeared all over town," he said. "Sometimes you can't tell where you are. The things you used to look for, to tell yourself where you are at, are gone."
It is remarkably easy to get turned around in a place that no longer looks like yours, he said.
In the months after the tornado, Davidson and his wife, Carole, were amazed at the outpouring of support from the community and volunteers from across the country.
"So many of us never saw ourselves as victims," Carole said. "It is hard to accept help. But it is heartwarming at the same time."
— Katrina Ball
YouTube video shows the severely damaged Faith Assembly of God at 2601 Indiana Ave., Joplin, Mo.
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Convoy of Hope disaster team members Paul Coroleuski (left) and Steve Irwin (right) inside severely damaged Faith Assembly. |
Sunday Morning services are currently held at 10:00 a.m. in the chapel on the campus of Ozark Christian College, located at 1111 N. Main St.
AG NEWS: Tornado death toll surpasses 100 in Joplin, Mo.
May 23, 2011
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| The remains of Faith Assembly of God in Joplin, Mo. |
Springfield, Mo. — A massive tornado cut a six-mile long and as much as a three-quarter-mile-wide swath through the city of Joplin, Missouri, last night, leaving mangled vehicles, uprooted trees and piles of rubble where homes, businesses, schools and fire stations once stood, with at least 116 fatalities.
According to reports, the storm had spawned tornadoes earlier in the evening in Kansas, then another tornado touched down on the west side of Joplin about 5:30 p.m. and began making its way through the city. Many local television reports had images of Joplin's St. John's Hospital, with its windows blown out and debris hanging from its structure, surrounded by nothing but flattened neighborhoods.
Joplin Assemblies of God Sectional Presbyter Ken Robinson says the area resembles a war zone. "It's just unbelievable," he says. Robinson says that of the AG churches in the Joplin area, he believes Faith Assembly was the hardest hit. The church's roof was blown off and its windows and doors blown out. The church is believed to be a total loss. Today, heavy rains are falling across southwest Missouri, adding to the misery and hampering search and rescue efforts.
Kurt and Jolynn Coleman, who pastor Galena (Kansas) AG, which is about four miles from the border of Missouri, have church members who live in Joplin. Jolynn Coleman confirmed that one of their church's children was killed last night. She says the mother was taking shelter in the bathroom with her two children, ages four and nine, and shielding them with her body. A utility pole then crashed through the house, bounced off the mother, and struck the nine-year-old boy, killing him instantly. The mother, who suffered severe injuries, and the four-year-old child are now at hospitals in Springfield, Missouri.
Iva Griffin, wife of Larry Griffin, pastor of Faith Assembly, shares that she and her husband were on the way back from Dallas when they received a call from the associate pastor, Dr. Ron Cannon. "He told us, 'I'm in the middle of the church, looking up at the sky,'" she relates. "A few seconds later, the phone went dead." Since that time, she has learned that the church's evening service was just minutes from starting when the tornado hit, but the staff and ushers knew what to do and got people to the safety areas in time.
"When the tornado was hitting the church," Cannon recalls, "we had the most amazing prayer covering . . . people praying and speaking in tongues, it was the sovereign hand of God . . . if you look at the church, it looks like a bomb hit us. God's hand had to be sovereignly upon us as not one person in the church was injured."
"We had flag poles in front of the church that were guaranteed to never come out of the ground — and they were blown out," Iva Griffin adds, giving an indication of the force of the tornado.
Robinson reports that Second Assembly in Joplin also suffered damage, with windows being blown out. Also Cathedral Assembly reportedly has some minor damage while First Assembly did not appear to have any noticeable damage. However, confirmation on the extent of damages to some churches is difficult as phone lines are jammed and some cell phone towers were destroyed.
In addition to the hospital being severely damaged, the Joplin superintendent of schools has reported that the high school, vocational school and an elementary school were destroyed, with at least two other schools sustaining heavy damage.
The headquarters of the Pentecostal Church of God and the PCG's Messenger College, both located in Joplin, were reported as being spared any significant damage. However, PCG Bishop Charles Scott posted a Tweet, stating that their offices would be closed until further notice as several staff members lost everything in the tornado.
