Pastor declares ‘miracle’ after tornado sweeps through church during service and everyone survives

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, May 13, 2024

A Pennsylvania pastor praised God for what he called a "miracle" after an F1 tornado ripped off the roof of his church as about 100 people worshiped inside on Saturday evening, and everyone survived without any significant injuries.

"Folks, I just want you to know last night, I witnessed what I would say is a miracle," Rev. Ken Barner of Crossroads Ministries in Finleyville said in an online address to his congregation on Sunday.

"I never thought we'd be coming to you under these circumstances. As most of you are aware by now, our church was hit by a tornado last night," he added, explaining how his wife, Rhonda, was leading praise and worship when the tornado "came up the hill" and ransacked the church with the parishioners inside.

"We were having Saturday night service. My wife was up there singing and leading worship to the Lord, and we were singing praise to the Almighty, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. And there were 75 to 100 people here last night. We had babies in there for baby dedications. We had several new families that had never been to the church before, and God was with us," Barner said.

The pastor described the moment the tornado hit the wing of the church, which housed the restrooms and offices.

"The tornado came up the hill at about 6:14 p.m., and it came up, and it took the roof off of that building, and it sent it into the woods," he said. "I just have to tell you God was with us. The steeple got knocked out. Cars were damaged. Nobody was injured. There's a few cuts and bruises and bumps, as you might imagine, but nobody had to be hospitalized that we know of, and we're just thankful for that."

A short video from the Saturday services shared on the church's Facebook page shows the moment the congregation began to realize they were in the midst of a tornado.

"My wife, Rhonda, was singing, and all of a sudden, you could hear the noise of the storm. You could hear the wind outside. The power jumped once, then the power went out and came back on. I knew there had been a tornado warning for Lawrence County at 5 p.m., so I started evacuating people downstairs where there's a cinder block basement," Barner told The Observer-Reporter.

"It was the scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life," Lynn Michigan, who attended the Saturday evening service with her husband, Rob, told the publication.

Rob Michigan, a member of the Castle Shannon Volunteer Fire Department, helped lead the parishioners to safety in the church basement. He said he would never want to experience what happened in the tornado again.

"I've been with the fire service since 1984, and it's the first time I've ever experienced something like this, and I don't want to experience it again," he told the newspaper. 

In his address on Sunday, Pastor Barner said all church activities had been canceled this week, and they are currently working to find a new place to worship as they repair the building.

"Folks, I just want you to know that we're standing on the promises of God right now. This is a very big moment for our church, and I know that we will get through this," he said.

"This is just a building folks. I thank God for it. The people who've gone before us, they have done a good job to hand us what they could do, and we've been doing our best to take care of it and really use it for the honor and glory of God, but folks, this is just a building here, and I know that God is really using us as his church," he added. "I want you to know that by next weekend, we will meet somewhere."