By RODNEY HART
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
MONROE CITY, Mo. -- Rev. Milton Baumgardner and First Baptist Church member Dale Askey remember looking at their wrecked roof and wall the morning after a tornado tore through town.
The roof had a huge hole, and one of the walls was already starting to crumble. Light seeped in through the openings as Monroe City began reacting to a devastating tornado on March 12, 2006.
"I thought it was almost surreal," Askey says. "But we never heard anybody sound defeated, that's what was heartening about the whole thing."
Three and half years later, First Baptist Church has rebuilt its sanctuary and looks forward to the mission and challenges ahead.
"The church is not a physical building, it's the people," Baumgardner said this week, while standing in the gleaming new sanctuary at the corner of Catherine and North Main. "The building becomes a tool we use to bring our message to the community."
The church dedicates its new facilities Sunday with a special music service at 2 p.m. and the dedication ceremony at 2:30.
The public is invited to attend the afternoon service and the following reception. Guests may tour the facility before and after the dedication service.
Get there early if you want a seat.
"We are expecting about 370 people for lunch," Baumgardner said. "It's going to be a fantastic weekend."
In addition to the 280-seat sanctuary, the facility includes church offices, a choir room, a nursery and classrooms. The new addition is 15,790 square feet, including a partial basement.
Seventeen stained glass windows and much of the pulpit furniture were salvaged. A company in St. Louis took apart the pipe organ, cleaned it and installed it back in the new building. There are lights from the original sanctuary used in the greeting area just outside the sanctuary.
Church members sketched out a rough draft of what they wanted in a new sanctuary, then went to Kent Heimer of Heimer Construction for the formal plans. The result is a modern-looking interior with a state of the art sound system and a wide-open feel.
The $2.6 million insurance settlement covered most of the construction costs, and more than $150,000 in other donations helped with demolition, additional lots, some materials and the refurbishing of the stained glass windows and pipe organ.
"We've been able to bring a lot from the old sanctuary," Askey said.
The church also bought lots to the south for parking. They contained buildings destroyed by the tornado.
Many buildings were damaged by the tornado, though fortunately no lives were lost. When it struck the church on that Sunday night, Baumgardner was in the basement with seven others.
Baumgardner marvels nobody was killed and that more damage wasn't done by the tornado.
"These are all gifts from God, no doubt," Baumgardner said. "There's no debt, and that's due to the grace of God."
The church never canceled services, meeting in the fellowship hall, and attendance has remained steady at about 140 people per Sunday service.
Baumgardner hopes the new building will serve as a springboard for the church.
"Our saying is, 'Blessings behind and blessings before,' " he said. "We are excited about what's laying ahead."
-- rhart@whig.com/221-3370
