Maryville Church Completes Repairs on Storm-Damaged Structure
By: William Seay
Updated: March 14, 2013
(MARYVILLE, Mo.) A mid-August thunderstorm in 2011 rocked northwest Missouri and the town of Maryville was one of the hardest hit in the region.
Acres of crops were destroyed, buildings were pushed over and there was extensive hail and wind damage all over the city.
One of the storm's victims was the First Presbyterian Church on Main Street; the church has just this week finished its repairs.
"The whole community suffered. Especially our church. The steeple was badly damaged, the windows were badly damaged, the roof was damaged," said Larry Rusco, a member of the church's trustees and a member of the 100-person congregation since the early 1980s.
The last piece of the church's repairs was a new steeple, installed earlier in the week.
"Symbolically the steeple points to God. And that's what we're all about. It's a symbol of hope," said Pastor Jonathan Mitchell. Mitchell is in his third year as pastor at the First Presbyterian.
It's taken 18 months to finish repairs, the result of a long, drawn-out insurance process.
"You can't go to Wal-Mart and buy a steeple, right? And it's very difficult to price these things. How much does a new steeple cost? Nobody knows that," Pastor Mitchell said.
Repairs total $70,000, finally restoring this church back to the state it was in before the storm.
"It was a matter of working with insurance, finding bids, finding a good deal on a crane. We had to get a crane in here," Mitchell said.
All the repairs took a while, but the church never missed a Sunday service.
Acres of crops were destroyed, buildings were pushed over and there was extensive hail and wind damage all over the city.
One of the storm's victims was the First Presbyterian Church on Main Street; the church has just this week finished its repairs.
"The whole community suffered. Especially our church. The steeple was badly damaged, the windows were badly damaged, the roof was damaged," said Larry Rusco, a member of the church's trustees and a member of the 100-person congregation since the early 1980s.
The last piece of the church's repairs was a new steeple, installed earlier in the week.
"Symbolically the steeple points to God. And that's what we're all about. It's a symbol of hope," said Pastor Jonathan Mitchell. Mitchell is in his third year as pastor at the First Presbyterian.
It's taken 18 months to finish repairs, the result of a long, drawn-out insurance process.
"You can't go to Wal-Mart and buy a steeple, right? And it's very difficult to price these things. How much does a new steeple cost? Nobody knows that," Pastor Mitchell said.
Repairs total $70,000, finally restoring this church back to the state it was in before the storm.
"It was a matter of working with insurance, finding bids, finding a good deal on a crane. We had to get a crane in here," Mitchell said.
All the repairs took a while, but the church never missed a Sunday service.
