The Miracle Church

On the evening of April 29^th, the Knights of Columbus Council 16078, in Emory, was hosting a dinner for the parish’s 10 graduating High School Seniors and their families. The weather was very unsettled. Those in attendance, and the Knights that were serving, were listening to a speaker when Maggie Conder, our parish secretary, called Monica Hughes, the Youth Leader of the parish. (Monica and Tim Hughes, our Council Program Director, were the leaders that planned this dinner.) Maggie told Monica to get everyone into the hallway, because a tornado was approaching the church. Within minutes of that call, St. John the Evangelist church and attached Gerkin Hall were totally destroyed. Part of the roof over the little church was gone, as were two of the walls. The rear wall of the Hall was blown out. But, the hallway, located in the very center of the structure, held. Forty-five people that were in attendance were unharmed, not a scratch.

Because of trees and debris blocking many roads, it took some time for families and parishioners to make their way to the church. Huge trees that were not from our property were left on our drive. It was later told, that this tornado started at Canton, Texas, whose parish sustained damage too, and was on the ground for about 51 miles from beginning to end and was a mile wide. Some say it was an F4 tornado.

The small church was totally destroyed. All that is left now is the slab and some of the iron work that was the structure of the church. It is waiting to be rebuilt into a social hall and classrooms. A larger church was in the planning stages before the storm, so both are now in the final planning stages.

In the days immediately after the tornado, the Council members helped parishioners with their storm damage. One parishioner lost a small barn that was home to his horse. When the barn rose about 12 feet, the horse ran off during the height of the storm and was found unhurt, 8 miles away. Council members joined in and helped raze the remains of the barn.

Our Pastor and fellow Knight, Fr. Victor Hernandez was interviewed the next day. He said yes, it was totally destroyed and yes, there was a dinner in progress in the hall and yes, no one was hurt. Our building was gone, but our community was intact. He also said, we will get up and get going because “We are a Resurrection People”.

The total destruction and the fact that no life was lost, made the news as far away as London, England, where a reporter gave us the name The Miracle Church.

Knights of Columbus Councils and Assemblies, some from as far away as Oregon and Ohio have helped us with donations. But the large majority of the contributions have come from our Brother Knights in Texas.

St. John the Evangelist Council 16078 and the whole parish of St. John’s are very grateful for your prayers and donations.