CRANE, Mo. – The First Baptist Church of Elsey, located near Crane, sustained roof damages in a tornado on Monday night, Nov. 4. The church building has pretty serious roof damage from a tornado that struck about 6:15 that evening. The National Weather service indicated the path of the EF-0 tornado was about 1.5 miles, touching down about a mile west of the church. One other home was reported to have damage from the twister. The Branson Tri-Lakes newspaper reported the tornado was about 50 yards in width and had wind speeds of 77 miles per hour.
A deacon at the church, Jesse Chase, told The Pathway the damage to the building is more severe than it initially looks. A porch roof was lifted up and then redeposited on top of the main church roof. A brick chimney was blown over on top of the roof. Both of these incidents caused other damages to the main portion of the church roof.
He said the church building is about 120 years old. Chase has been attending the church since 1978,
Although an insurance inspection had not yet been made, Chase said he thought that some serious damages had been done to some of the rafters as well as the shingles on the roof. Chase said it appeared the roof may have been lifted and then set back down from the main structure of the building. All of this is subject to confirmation by an inspector. Damages might be in the multiple thousands of dollars. Electricity was off to the building and they were waiting for the power company to restore power to the building as of Wednesday, Nov. 6.
The pastor, Mac McCully, said several churches and individuals have contacted him to offer help. He said they have use of some homes and an alternate church building location if needed for services until it is possible to use the building again. With no electricity the church restroom facilities would not be usable since the water source is from a well and an electric pump house.
He was going to hold a Wednesday evening meeting in a home to allow the church folks to testify to how God had used this incident to speak to the church.
“My initial thought,” he said, “is the He (God) commanded the winds and the waters, according to Luke 8:22-25, and they obey Him.” McCully added, “God has a purpose in all things and He provides (as is needed).”
Phillip Shuford, the director of missions for the Tri-County Baptist Association, made a visit to the Elsey church the morning after the tornado to see how they were doing and offer help. The association is going to help the church meet their deductible on their insurance policy with disaster funds.
Shuford said the church is very family oriented, and there is a close connection with the members. “When they finish a worship service, they join hands together and sing a song every Sunday.”
Though the tornado didn’t level the building, it has caused some inconvenience. The church has experienced significant trouble and financial difficulty in the past year. Last winter the well used for water for the building ran dry and they had to have a new well dug. Financial help from members and the community rolled in to help pay for it. The well-driller gave the church a significant discount so they could get the water flowing again.
So McCully said God has been good to the small church in the Southwest Missouri community of Elsey. They will get things repaired and will testify to the goodness of God through the storm.