Tornado Levels Indiana Church Building In Pre-Easter Tragedy
The remains of the Winchester Church of Christ building after it was destroyed by an EF3 tornado. (Photo provided by Bob Moorman)
“Bob, I’m looking out the window, and the church building is gone.”
That was the call Bob Moorman, preacher for the Winchester Church of Christ in Indiana, got last Thursday night from member Dean Staggs, peering from his condo across the street.
About 24 hours after the Winchester church met for its midweek Bible study, an EF3 tornado leveled its 50-year-old meeting place. The twister left a trail of destruction — but no deaths — across 25 miles of eastern Indiana, including Winchester, a town of 4,700 about 70 miles east of Indianapolis.
Of the 6,000-square-foot building, with an auditorium, office, kitchen and three classrooms, only a few bits were left standing, Moorman told The Christian Chronicle. Those bits included two walls, a door frame, a few pews and a water fountain.
Not a brick remained of the church’s marquee. And of the metal roof, the minister added, “I have yet to see one piece.”
Fittingly, a hymnal blown across the street lay open to “A Shelter in the Time of Storm,” The Associated Press reported.
Insurance has since declared the place a total loss.
“We didn’t know where to begin,” Moorman said, referring to the membership of about 30.
But they didn’t have to manage alone.
One of the first groups on the scene came from more than 700 miles away in eastern Oklahoma: about 18 members of the South College Church of Christ in Tahlequah and the Sallisaw Church of Christ.
The volunteers — including students from South College’s Riverhawks for Christ campus ministry — were already en route to Tipp City, Ohio.
They were going to help Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team prepare supplies for the next disaster — a trip the South College ministry makes every spring break.
But after the Indiana tornado, the relief organization asked the Oklahoma travelers to meet a more immediate need.
Moorman believes the timing was no accident.
“The Lord knew that tornado was going to get our building, and there just providentially happened to be some people moving our way from the church,” he said. “The Lord provides help through his body, the church, and that’s what he did.”
Arriving in Winchester Sunday afternoon, the Oklahoma group helped Winchester church members pick out any salvageable items from the rubble — photo albums, a mural behind the baptistery, pews and other pieces of furniture.
“It was pretty amazing. There were rooms, a couple of classrooms that looked like they had been untouched, and then outside, the walls — it was just complete disarray,” campus minister Tyrel Hartfield told the Chronicle.
His team then helped demolish the remnants of the building, sorting the debris — metal, wood, bricks and so on — putting some by the curb and leaving the rest in piles on top of the building foundation.
Locals with dump trailers helped haul much of it away.
For Mason Hopfer, a sophomore in Riverhawks for Christ, aiding a community suffering from disaster felt close to home despite the distance. A flood hit his hometown of Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, a couple years ago.
“Helping out there, it felt really good,” Hopfer said, “and I just felt like I should come here and help here.”
Serving in Winchester also uplifted sophomore Kaly Winton.
“It’s devastating to see all the damage … and people’s houses wiped out,” she said. “But it’s so heartwarming to see all the people coming together and helping other people. I’m glad I get to be a part of it.”
The generosity church members showed even with their physical losses surprised Winton.
“They offered us food,” she said, “and one lady, she brought us hand warmers and beanies that someone from the church had hand-knit themselves. And they’re just super hospitable even though they don’t even have a building to offer us.”
Several of the Winchester church members’ homes were hit, too.
Staggs, the member who first spotted the destroyed church building, had his roof damaged and was without heat for two days. His car also had its windows blown out and its tires punctured.
Another family had their roof damaged as well, and one woman’s home was left uninhabitable.
But Moorman and the Oklahoma team both describe the mood in Winchester as hopeful and encouraged by the overwhelming amount of support the church there has received.
Moorman said the work in helping other members of the community is also a welcome distraction.
Church of Christ, Southeast Greenville Avenue, Winchester, IN, USA
“We’re real somber,” he said, “but at the same time, with the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort coming to town, it gives us something to do because we’re involved in distribution of those assets to the community.”
The Nashville, Tenn.-based organization and the Winchester church secured a space at the Randolph County Fairgrounds to distribute relief supplies starting Wednesday.
The church also plans meet there for services while members wait to, hopefully, rebuild — it’s not clear yet how much of the cost the insurance payout will cover.
“You know when you’re somber, a little depressed, those type of things, they set you back,” Moorman added. “But if you’ve got something to do to help take your mind off of those things, then that’s an asset.
“So we’re thankful to the Lord for what we’ve got and that nobody was hurt, and so now we’re going to let him work through us to help in this disaster relief effort.”
This piece is republished with permission from The Christian Chronicle.
Calvin Cockrell is a freelance digital media specialist, media editor for The Christian Chronicle and copyeditor for Religion Unplugged. He also serves as the young adults minister for the North Tuscaloosa Church of Christ in Alabama.