Small tornado strikes, damages Vredenburgh Baptist Church

Six weeks after a tornado plowed through the community of one Pine Barren Baptist Association church, a smaller one hit the association’s Vredenburgh Baptist Church, causing massive damage to its facilities.
  
The EF-1 tornado, which struck April 14, demolished the church’s kitchen facility and ripped off metal covering Sunday School facilities, according to Pastor Mitchell Murphy.
  
“It was a blessing that the church didn’t suffer any more damage than what it did,” he said, adding that with the exception of some broken glass, the integrity of the sanctuary remains intact.
  
At press time, the congregation planned to meet for Sunday services April 22 with or without electricity to determine what steps to take next, Murphy said. 
  
About 30–50 people attend Vredenburgh Baptist on any given Sunday.
  
An Alabama Baptist disaster relief team was on the scene soon after the storm, covering the church with tarps and working to reconnect power to the main building.
  
Volunteers from Pine Barren Association’s Riverview Baptist Church are still at work in Millers Ferry, too, where a March 1 tornado flattened the community and claimed one life.
  
“Everything is looking better there, though trash is still being hauled off,” said John Marks, director of missions for Pine Barren Association. “Property owners are beginning to get back in and get things back together.”
 
 The associational office’s phone has “been ringing off the hook with people offering to help” with recovery in the heavily damaged area, he said. “We’re very appreciative.”
  
Murphy said his church is appreciative of the aid it’s gotten so far, too. 
  
“We’ve had a lot of help and still are getting a lot of help.”
  
For more stories about Alabama Baptists’ disaster relief efforts, visit www.thealabamabaptist.org. For more information on state disaster relief, call Tommy Puckett at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 229. (TAB)