A Pennsylvania pastor is crediting God’s hand of protection after all 100 attendees survived when a tornado slammed into their church building mid-service and damaged the roof and steeple. Members of Crossroads Ministries in Finleyville, Pa., were worshiping Saturday night a few minutes after 6 p.m. local time when the twister passed through town, hitting their building. The pastor’s wife, Rhonda Barner, was singing on stage at the time. In the online broadcast of the service, the camera shakes before the stream abruptly ends.
“I saw the lights were flickering and I saw they went out,” she told WPXI-11 News. “I thought I heard the windows start to shatter, and then the sound was like a train coming through and more windows were shattering.”
The tornado ripped the roof off the office building and tossed it into the nearby woods. It threw the steeple onto cars. Pastor Ken Barner says God protected everyone. About 100 members and attendees were inside — some of them babies for a scheduled baby dedication.
“We saw a complete miracle. The hand of God almighty was upon us,” Barner said during his Sunday sermon the next morning.
A few people had cuts and bruises, but no one was killed or hospitalized, he added.
“We’re so thankful for that,” Barner said. “We’re standing on the promises of God right now. … I know that we will get through this.”
He added, “This is just a building. … God is using us as His church.”
Barber read several verses during his sermon, including Psalm 91:1: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
“God protected His children,” Barner said. “ Please thank God with me that God’s hand of protection was on us.”
The National Weather Service said the twister likely was an EF-2 tornado, which means it would have had winds between 111-135 mph.