Molino flock protected by Shepherd's hand in Feb. 17

Photo courtesy NorthEscambia.com

A tornado destroyed the front of this home shortly before hitting Highland Baptist Church and ripping off the church steeple (inset) Feb. 17.

MOLINO (FBW)—After Pastor Brian Calhoun's "shorter-than-usual" sermon Feb. 17 on Jesus as our Good Shepherd, the flock at Highland Baptist Church experienced His care and protection from a tornado that damaged the church facility.

A noon-time storm forced about 125 Sunday morning worshippers to take shelter in the church fellowship hall in Molino just in time to avoid a wayward tornado which ripped off the church's steeple and sent it flying into cars in the parking lot—after destroying the front of a nearby home.

Photo courtesy NorthEscambia.com

A tornado tore down the steeple of Highland Baptist Church when it hit Feb. 17.

As the pastor closed his sermon, the church organist received a cell phone call from a church member who was sick at home. Local news had reported a tornado in the vicinity of the church. The organist quickly relayed the information to the minister of music, who whispered it to the pastor at the close of the invitation.

Calhoun asked everyone to proceed quickly from the sanctuary, with its 35-foot stained glass windows, to the fellowship hall about 30 yards away. Most worshippers headed down the indoor hallways, although a few went to their cars to drive home.

Just as the last worshippers made it to the windowless block and brick room, the electricity went out. At first adults sat stiffly at round tables while the children cowered underneath. The tension in the room eased, however, when Pastor Calhoun prayed and the children were led in singing "Oh How I Love You, Jesus."

Several in the crowd said they felt pressure in their ears, Calhoun recalled, and a rumble spread through the mostly sound-proofed building. A man who stayed near a window saw a near-by shed "lift up and explode" Calhoun recalled, pointing out that after his sighting the man bolted toward a safer vantage point.

After what seemed like a long time—but in reality was only a minute or two—the storm blew over. The crowd emerged from its shelter to find the church steeple in pieces atop cars in the parking lot. They also found one of the worshippers who had left the sanctuary still in her car under a covered drive-through. She told them that was as far as she made it before the storm came, and she said the air pressure prevented her from opening her car door to come inside once the storm neared. She said she watched the back of her car "bucking up and down" in the storm. All the others who drove from the parking lot made it home safely, although they drove through a violent "debris field," Calhoun said.

Men of the congregation went home to "change to their work boots," and returned to the church to begin repairs and clean-up, Calhoun reported. Some had to talk their way through police blockades to return.

Eric Sheaffer, director of service ministry and disaster relief leader for the Pensacola Bay Baptist Association, arrived around 1 p.m. to find that the Molino congregation had already cleaned up the facility. Sheaffer told the Witness he brought with him plastic sheeting, furring strips and button-head nails left over from the association's response to the October 2007 tornado that damaged Greater Little Rock Baptist Church in Pensacola.

"I learned a valuable lesson in this. It's always good to have disaster relief materials on hand," Sheaffer told the Witness.

With the materials in hand, a half-dozen men—including three who don't go to church—patched the roof "between storms," Calhoun said.

Later in the afternoon, the Gary Family, members of East Brent Baptist Church in Pensacola, stopped by the church on their way to their grandparents' house. The two young children of the family had emptied their piggy banks to contribute to replacing Highland's steeple. The children gave the young pastor all of it—$4.84.

An insurance adjuster and structural engineer have since toured the church and begun the repair process. The engineer found three rows of bricks loosened on the top of the fellowship hall, which was caused, he said, by the building being "picked up and set down."

"I think that God's hand was on the building and He would not let the winds pick it up," Calhoun said.

Some church members' homes received minor damage. At the pastor's house, "about one minute away from the church," his children's trampoline was "wrapped around a pine tree," Calhoun said.

Calhoun said the Wednesday night prayer meeting differed greatly from previous prayer meetings. Far more prayers of thanksgiving were raised than prayers for the sick. Calhoun said he continued to remind his congregation of God's provision by preaching Feb. 24 from Mark 4:35-41. His sermon title was: "Don't tell God how big your storm is. Tell your storm how big your God is."

And the church organist repeated the Mosie Lister offertory she played before the storm hit the Sunday before—"Till the Storm Passes By:" "Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand, keep me safe till the storm passes by."