Pastor Speaks Out After Strong Winds Knock Over Steeple Of Northeast Phila. Church
By Steve Patterson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Pastor Charles App Jr. is a believer in disbelief.
"We just, we couldn't believe what we saw," he said.
Pastor App remembers the wind pounding on the church during service at about 10 a.m. Sunday.
About a dozen church goers brave enough to hear him speak, instead got the word from an interrupting fire Lieutenant: 'evacuate.'
"She explained that we lost our Steeple and its parked outside," App said.
The Steeple is 115-years-old and about 70 feet high, casting a shadow over the bus stop out front and the coffee shop next door.
Instead it torpedoed straight down into an alley. No one was hurt.
"I can't picture any contractor in Philadelphia being able to do such a perfect park job as the lord did," App said.
Insurance adjusters have yet to look at the damage but Pastor App believes they likely won't have the money for a new steeple. He said that's not so important.
"I want people to be reached," he said. "Not monuments to be made."