Despite tornado damage, Georgia church serves community after storm

A tornado that ripped through the north Georgia town of Adairsville Jan. 30 destroyed the east wing of the Adairsville Church of Christ’s building. (See our earlier post for additional photos.)
The congregation lost three of its classrooms, a supply room and a food pantry used to serve the needy in its community.
But church members didn’t let the loss keep them from helping neighbors in their storm-ravaged community, minister Steve McCaslin said.
The congregation filled its annex — across the street from the building, undamaged by the storm — with relief supplies. Nashville, Tenn.-based Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort packed and shipped a truckload of food boxes and cleaning supplies, which the church’s members distributed this past weekend. Deacons plan to deliver whatever supplies are left to those in need, McCaslin told The Christian Chronicle.

“We feel blessed. It could have been a lot worse,” said McCaslin, who has served as the church’s minister for about 19 years and also is one of its four elders. None of the congregation’s 120 members were injured, though one member lost his home in the storm. The member’s daughter, who lives in the house behind him, also lost her home as the family waited out the storm in their tornado shelter.
The church’s main auditorium sustained some damage, but a building inspector allowed the congregation to meet there for worship Sunday, Feb. 3. The building had power but no heat, so the church delayed the service until 2 p.m. Members distributed relief supplies Sunday morning.
The storm broke a window in McCaslin’s office and water leaked through the roof. Church members helped the minister, who had just retired from the pulpit, clear his books and belongings from the office.
“I was planning to move anyway,” he said, “but this was not the way I planned to empty my office.”
McCaslin was interviewing for the preaching job in 1994, staying at a hotel in nearby Calhoun, Ga., when a similar wave of storms struck north Georgia. The morning after the storms, a waitress told him that a tornado touched down in Adairsville.
“Does that happen often?” he asked.
“No, not really,” the waitress replied.
The church has insurance, but must pay a $5,000 deductible and various clean-up costs. Anyone wishing to help defray the expenses may send donations to:
Adairsville Church of Christ
P.O. Box 346
Adairsville, GA 30103
Phone: (770) 773-3362
Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort also sent supplies to congregations near other parts of the Southeast affected by the Jan. 30 storms, including the Calhoun Church of Christ in Georgia and the Coble Church of Christ in Centerville, Tenn.

• Feedback
  Wow! This article demonstrates James 2:14-17 in action! So glad to see our brethren down south helping out their neighbors. My prayer is that the Adairsville congregation will get the financial help they need to pay their deductible.

  Matthew Carr

  February, 25 2013