Faith, Family Help Potter Church Rebuild After Tornado

Their tiny church may have been leveled by a tornado last May, but the Potter Church's congregation kept their spirits and now have a new home to worship in.

Sunday, September 27th 2009, 10:33 pm

By: News 9


By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

DOUGLAS, Oklahoma – A Garfield County congregation is grateful to have a new place to worship after ther was leveled by a tornado last May.

"The church is completely paid off… Amen," Potter Church Pastor Sam Jerome said. "On May 24, 2008, our building was gone, my thoughts was 'Where are we going to have church?' I never thought for a moment that we'd never have a church or wouldn't have a building but I had concern for at that time."

The tornado destroyed the 103-year-old church. But thanks to help from around the world, a new church was built in its place.

"You just got to say God put it all together," said the Potter Church pastor.

Those were difficult times for this family of faith, but their focus was to move forward. The reunion of the congregation in their new church goes beyond a building.

"The piano lasted all those years but it landed in the middle of the wheat field and the box all stripped," said Bonnie Roberts, a 94-year-old churchgoer. "The new piano, it's beautiful. Oh it's just been a wonderful thing."

The first Sunday service also brought in long time parishioners like Alma Batchen, who's been here since her father started the historic Potter Church.

"I'm 91-years-old now and spent most of my church years here," said Alma Caudle Betchan. "I couldn't hardly look, I wanted to cry it mean so much to me. It means so much to me that they have a little country church out here."

"It's been a labor of love. You come down here and seeing God working not in the big details, but some little plans, it's been God's plan all along to get this building put back and today we're seeing that. We're seeing that today," said Pastor Jerome.

The church even has enough money left over from the donations to have a steeple built by the end of the year.

More on News9.com:

Church Holds Fundraiser to Rebuild | Church Raises Money to Rebuild

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