Church stirred to service

Feeds local relief workers after tornado shakes building

Sherman | Living Faith Baptist Church met in nearby Williamsville High School temporarily. They were waiting for permission from a building inspector to return to their facility which was shaken by a March 31 tornado.

“Our building suffered damage to the roof, soffits, and siding,” said Jack Lucas, IBSA Church Leadership Director who is serving as interim pastor. “The exterior walls in the fellowship hall and sanctuary have been pushed out and separated along the roof line. We were to have held our largest outreach event of the year. Instead, the congregation transitioned to preparing meals for first responders and work crews.”

The tornado hit the community of Sherman just after 6 p.m. while 35 people were in the church fellowship hall having dinner prior to the start of their Celebrate Recovery meetings. That’s when tornado sirens began to sound, and as they moved into the church’s storm shelters the power went out.

“We could hear the debris blowing around and hitting the building for a few minutes,” church member John Bryant said. As the sound began to die down, he said the church building made a loud “oof” sound, stretching his arms out wide as if expanding.

They waited about five minutes and then came out to survey the damage. It wasn’t until the next morning, in daylight, church members would find the tornado had pushed the fellowship hall and sanctuary walls on the building’s east side outward.

Just across the road from the church, about 40 homes in the Brittin Place neighborhood sustained serious damage. Many main roads were still blocked the next morning with police only allowing first responders and local residents to enter.

The church had planned to host its annual Easter Palooza outreach event on April 1. Thousands of plastic Easter eggs had been filled with candy, cakes were baked for the cake walk, and church members had packed hundreds of grab-and-go sack lunches for the 300-500 kids who were expected to attend. But church members quickly shifted gears—slicing cakes and repurposing goodie bags for community recovery efforts.

The husband-and-wife team of Steve and Carol Miller are the church’s meal coordinators. “We already had all this food.” said Carol. “What we’re doing is a better fit for the circumstances.”

The local County Market grocery store provided free fried chicken dinners for the church to plate and distribute. A couple hundred meals were served to village workers, power company crews, and first responders.

“I have heard more than one member state that God has allowed us a greater opportunity to serve our community this Easter season,” Lucas said. “I was very blessed to look around and see so many of our people serving and focusing on our community rather than our own issues.”

“God worked today,” said Steve who took delivered food to the damaged neighborhood. “People were in tears but encouraged to see the church coming to them. I just did what I could and let God do the rest.”

– Lisa Misner