ALABAMA: Episcopalians come together to clean up after tornadoes
Episcopal News Service. April 27, 2010 [042710-03]
Mary Frances Schjonberg, Dave Drachlis, Communications Coordinator for the Diocese of Alabama
Severe storms that killed 10 people in Mississippi and two in Alabama April 24-25 also severely damaged Christ Episcopal Church in Albertville, Alabama.
A F3 tornado (on the F0-5 Fujita Scale) tore through the northern Alabama city, injuring a reported 33 people and severely damaging buildings on East Main Street, also known as Million Dollar Avenue, in the historic downtown.
"I am very grateful for all of Albertville that we have been able to weather this with no death," the Rev. David Kendrick, Christ Church's rector, told WAAYtv.com on April 26. "And so there is sadness, but there is always blessing and there is always new life. I truly believe that with all my heart."
Kendrick had just finished writing his sermon about 10:30 p.m. on April 24 and gone to bed when he and his wife, Laura, heard tornado warning sirens sound outside their red brick townhouse, the Diocese of Alabama reported. They took shelter in a bathroom near the center of the townhouse, Kendrick said, while windows in the living room and a bedroom exploded and ceilings gave way. Leaves and glass shards were blown under the bathroom door, according to the diocesan report.
Kendrick and 15 parishioners gathered at the church on April 25 to survey the damage: The churchyard's huge, old trees had been uprooted, there were large holes in the roof and the church's sidewalls were leaning. The tornado had shifted the entire structure to the left of its foundation, the diocese said.
The group salvaged the altar, prayerbooks and hymnals and chalices and patens, and then vacated the now-unsafe structure.
"And then we did what Christians have always done. We broke bread in remembrance, to recall the Resurrected Jesus so that he would be as present with us as He was with the disciples," Kendrick said. "We celebrated Eucharist at the stone altar in the church garden and we gave thanks."
Kendrick pledged that parish members would help take care of the larger Albertville community, as well as each other. On April 26, the parish hosted a team from Tyson Chicken that came to provide meals to recovery workers and others in the community.
Meanwhile, members of nearby parishes arrived to help with the clean-up. Members of Church of the Epiphany in Guntersville, Alabama, spent the morning of April 26 clearing trees and shoring up portions of the damaged church structure.
"I live about a mile from the Albertville church, and knew they would need help," the Rev. Jennifer Riddle, Epiphany's associate rector, said in another diocesan news story.
"We need to help our sister church," she told her parishioners on the morning after the storm, and got several volunteers, including Jody Chorba and Jason Moore, president and vice president respectively of a contracting company, who arranged for a backhoe and additional volunteers.
A crew from St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Huntsville arrived on the evening of April 26 with tarps and covered the church pews to prevent further damage from rain.
Alabama Bishop Henry Parsley Jr. and Bishop Suffragan Kee Sloan also visited the parish with members of the diocesan staff and delivered contributions from parishioners throughout the diocese. They provided $5,000 from Diocesan Disaster Relief Fund to help the Christ Church parish assist the community of Albertville, the diocesan news story said, and another $5,000 to help the congregation make arrangements to safeguard its property and prepare the parish hall as a temporary worship space. They also provided money from the Easter Fund to help Kendrick and his family.