MACON, Ga. — A possible tornado toppled a north Macon church’s steeple, leaving a gaping hole in the roof among other structural damage, but it didn’t keep the congregation from worshipping for the first time since the storms.
After an intense week, the congregation of Northminster Presbyterian came together in the church's parking lot to worship at their Palm Sunday service.
"We're not going to go inside today because we've basically got the building closed," explained Rev. Ralph Hawkins to his congregation.
After the storms, the lights are still out. The steeple rests in the parking lot in shambles, yet the congregation came together still grateful nobody in their community was hurt.
"We're still together worshipping and this was a meaningful day for us," said Virginia Cowsert. "I moved here in 1964 and my friend Ann invited me to our church. We did not have a building, so every little brick and everything in our church means a lot."
She sat in the same parking lot the day the 8,000-pound steeple went up.
"We all came and sat outside in yard chairs and we wrote our names on the inside thinking, 'We'll be closer to God,'" she said.
That particular scrap of metal was lost to the winds. It has yet to turn up and it's something church members look at as a piece of history.
The majority of the search efforts were spent on something else: the crossbar to the cross that once topped the steeple.
"We looked for three days, no luck," Hawkins said. "Finally, on Friday morning, one of the workers with the Paul Davis company discovered it on the far side of our building."
They repaired it and cleaned it up.
"I think it's a important symbol after a tough week," Hawkins said.
In the shadow of the steeple that once pointed to the heavens, the service was a ray of hope.
"We're just appreciative, we're grateful, and we're moving on with renewed hope," Cowsert said.
The music endures and the worship continues in a new beginning for this tight-knit community.
Hawkins says he hopes they'll be able to use the sanctuary for Easter services next week. They're waiting for the county to give them permission to use electricity again.
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