Episcopalians celebrate hope

~ Members of churches throughout the region gathered at the site of a Caruthersville church destroyed by a tornado.

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- Evidence of the devastating April 2 tornado surrounded the Celebration of Hope church service in Caruthersville on Sunday.

A concrete foundation is all that remains of St. John's Episcopal Church at 110 W. 19th St., the location of the community church service.

Hammers could be heard pounding on boards during the sermon as Caruthersville residents worked to rebuild their homes.

Huge trees were blown over and most of the homes surrounding the former church had shingles missing, windows broken or blue tarps covering rooftops.

About 60 people from Caruthersville, Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Dyersburg, Tenn., attended the community church service, which was organized by the Rev. Bob Towner, pastor at Christ Episcopal Church in Cape Girardeau, and other members of Episcopal churches throughout the region.

"We knew this church down here was declared a total loss," Towner said about the St. John's Episcopal Church, which had huge trees blown into the roof the night of the tornado. "We wanted to let the congregation know they weren't forgotten. We wanted to come love them."

The Rev. Jack A. Rogers Jr., pastor of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Dyersburg, Tenn., serves as the part-time pastor for the 25-member congregation at St. John's Episcopal Church in Caruthersville.

"We're not sure what we're going to do yet," Rogers said before the service. "We don't know if we're going to rebuild in this same location or what."

During the sermon, Rogers asked the congregation to never lose their memories of the church building but not to dwell on what happened as a result of the tornado.

"I don't ever want another storm to come here again, but something good can come out of something bad," Rogers said. "Maybe the good is that this church can be resurrected and that it will thrive."

St. John's Episcopal Church was one of the 24 structures destroyed by the tornado in Pemiscot County. More than 55 homes suffered major damage, and about 80 more suffered moderate damage.

Sunday's church service marked the beginning of a new future for St. John's Episcopal Church, Towner said. "This slab of concrete is not a grave marker; it's the beginning of something new," he said. "This is not the end of the story. We don't know what God has in store for it."

Caruthersville resident Carol Mehrle attended the church service to visit with longtime friends Doc and Karen Cain of Cape Girardeau, owners of Port Cape Girardeau restaurant. Port Cape's food distributor, U.S. Food Services, donated food for the event.

"It was a very scary night," Mehrle said of April 2, when an F3 tornado destroyed more than half of Caruthersville. Merhle's house sustained approximately $30,000 worth of damage. "We had a lot of roof damage, and there were at least 10 trees around our house that were pulled from the ground," she said.

Doc Cain, who is originally from Caruthersville, said he was happy to provide a meal on Sunday. "We needed to be here to help celebrate with these people," he said. "That slab of concrete needs to come up, and that church can be rebuilt with everyone's help."

Much of Caruthersville is still in ruins, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency has supplied more than 300 temporary trailers and mobile home units to residents in Caruthersville. FEMA set up a park with 133 mobile homes; more than 90 families have already registered to live in the temporary housing for up to 18 months.

Rogers said the members of the St. John's Episcopal Church have been holding temporary services at First United Methodist Church in Caruthersville.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

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