Tornado causes significant damage to ministry offices

The offices of three Alabama-based ministries associated with Churches of Christ were hit hard Monday night when an EF-3 tornado touched down in Jacksonville.

According to a post on the Polishing the Pulpit Facebook page, the offices of House to House/Heart to Heart, Polishing the Pulpit and the Great Smoky Mountain Marriage Retreat were heavily damaged.

Melissa Webster, the wife of Jacksonville Church of Christ preacher Allen Webster, was at the building when the storm hit, said Matt Wallin, with the evangelistic publication House to House/Heart to Heart.

Melissa Webster and her daughters met at the building and were able to get into the basement just moments before the storm hit.

Wallin said the church building sustained some damage, but it was the offices in the building next door that were destroyed.

“We’re just really thankful no one was hurt,” Wallin said.

He said the storm and the rains that followed destroyed much of the printed materials the ministries had. A radio station they ran from the building was also destroyed.

Many of the employees of House to House, Polishing the Pulpit and the Great Smoky Mountain Marriage Retreat work remotely, so many of their day-to-day operations will not be impacted, Wallin said.

He said right now they’re trying to decide what, if any help, they may need.

“We might need money or people to come help,” Wallin said, “but it will be a few days before we know for sure.”

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