seen such destruction. After losing the building, the
The newly dedicated building for Peace Lutheran Church, Joplin, Mo., stands tall after less than a year of construction.
Peace
Two years after a tornado, church has new home
M
Accettura was The Lutheran’s summer intern.
34 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Central States Synod appointed Red- path to two years at Peace to assist in the transition. Bethany Presbyterian Church in Joplin offered a temporary home to Peace as the congregation regrouped and made rebuilding plans.
in Joplin, Mo. By Abigail Accettura
ore than two years after a massive tornado destroyed much of Joplin, Mo., members of Peace Lutheran Church are finally back in a space they can call their own.
“We say the church isn’t just a building, but that’s not completely true,” said Kathy Redpath, pastor. “Everybody needs a home; that’s just the human part of us.” And Peace’s new home is filling that need. Situated on 14 acres about five
miles north of its previous location, the building is the result of more than a year’s worth of planning. It was dedicated in June. Peace’s former building had been built in 1965, with classrooms and fel- lowship space added in 2011. The congregation was in a transitional period and had an interim pastor when the storm hit on May 22, 2011. The tornado left only four brick columns stand- ing. Sarah Jo Radcliffe, office manager, described the wreckage as “unbelievable,” claiming she had never
“Bethany was a wonderful host to us, and I was so surprised by all the support that came in from people even outside of Joplin. There were donations coming in internation- ally,” Radcliffe said. “It’s amazing that people can open their hearts to help people they don’t even know.” As Peace worked to get back on its feet, the challenge of rebuilding proved too great in the first year after the tornado. “[It] was a time of grieving, of wondering what to do next, of wanting to be back in our home,” Redpath said. “But eventually we formed a building committee, care- fully chosen to reflect the different talents and interests of the congrega- tion. And we realized we would have to look at property elsewhere, so we found a piece of land and broke ground in January 2013.” Although the new building is not entirely complete, Peace celebrated both the formal installation of Red- path as permanent pastor and the dedication of the new building to mark the two-year anniversary of the tornado .
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