Parishioners HOME

By TRACEY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CAMPBELL -- Loretta White stood in front of her church and cried the day a tornado ravaged it last summer.
Her son held her and told her everything was going to be all right.
Less than a year later, White, a deaconess at the church, knows that her son was right.
The former Himrod Avenue Church of God on Youngstown's East Side has a new name, The Community Church of God, and a new home at 710 Sanderson Ave., Campbell.
The July 21 tornado collapsed two of the church's chimneys through the roof and into the choir area. Rain soaked the sanctuary through the resulting hole in the roof, and stained-glass windows were blown out by the 110-mph winds that ripped through the building.
Nobody was in the church at the time.
"Thank the Lord it happened on a Monday and not on a Sunday," said the church's pastor, the Rev. Catherine Rexford.
Although the tornado destroyed a large part of the 85-year-old building, the Rev. Ms. Rexford said she came to look upon the destruction as a blessing because the congregation had decided to look for a new church building just before the tornado struck.
The pastor said that although the old church was a beautiful building, the parish needed a more modern facility. The aging building had no parking and was three stories high, making use difficult for senior citizens and the handicapped.
The search
After the tornado, the church began searching for a new home while the congregation worshipped with a sister church, Peoples Chapel Church of God on Youngstown's South Side.
Eventually a portion of the Himrod church was declared structurally sound by engineers and the congregation returned to the church, meeting in the fellowship hall and using the front entrance. The sanctuary, the kitchen and back entrance were off limits.
The congregation held its services there from September until Dec. 7, when it moved into its new building, a former Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Campbell.
"We had looked at this building before and were not satisfied, but the Lord led us to come back and look at it again," said Ms. Rexford.
"The second time we looked at it, the [former tenants] had installed a new roof, air conditioning, new sump pumps in the basement and were in the process of ... putting French drains downstairs."
The church's insurance company issued a check for damages incurred by the tornado on the day the payment on the new church was due. The insurance settlement covered the entire cost of the new building.
The church will hold a dedication service for its new building, at 710 Sanderson Ave., Campbell, at 4 p.m. Sunday. Celebration services will be held that entire week, starting with a kickoff event at 11 a.m. Sunday and guest speakers and special music at 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. The events will wrap up with a service at 11 a.m. April 25.
A good sign
The new building is three miles from the old church, said Ms. Rexford, but the church hasn't lost any parishioners since moving. On the contrary, the congregation has actually grown.
"The city of Campbell has been wonderful. The mayor is going to attend the dedication service," she said.
The congregation installed new carpeting and bought a new piano and was able to salvage several items from the Himrod church.
The former tenants left many things for them, including office furniture, the sound system, pulpits, all chairs in the sanctuary, tables and chairs in fellowship hall and baby changing tables in the restrooms.
"When I asked them why they were doing it, they said that's the way they would want the church to be when they came into it, so that's how they wanted to leave it," said Ms. Rexford.
The pastor said the Himrod church was sold at auction. The new owners have removed the stained-glass windows that survived the tornado, but she is not sure what they intend to do with the building.
Rexford said plans for the new church include purchasing and installing a baptismal pool in the sanctuary, enlarging the sanctuary doors, enlarging restroom doors to accommodate wheelchairs and eventually building a fellowship hall at the back of the building.