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By ERIN MATHEWS

Salina Journal

A 20-foot Fiberglas spire from the top of the First Southern Baptist Church steeple broke off in Monday's storm and impaled the roof of the sanctuary.

Church members were busy Monday afternoon patching the hole in the roof of the church and cleaning up wet pews and carpet inside the sanctuary. A cross that broke off the top of the spire before it pierced the roof stood near the entryway of the church at 2401 S. Ohio.

Associate pastors Mike Murray and Todd Bradrick were at a conference in Abilene when they got a call about the storm damage.

"We were coming back from Abilene trying to imagine what it was going to look like," Murray said.

Fortunately, he said, the scene that greeted them upon arrival was about what they had expected. Electrical and sprinkler systems were not damaged, and the rain didn't get to the grand piano and drum set that had been sitting near the hole in the roof, he said.

"God is still good, even in the midst of the storm," Murray said. "By the grace of God, nothing worse happened."

Bradrick stood on a scissor lift suctioning water out of a large light fixture near the tear in the ceiling.

Murray said that for the immediate future, church members are taking steps to make sure the building is protected in the event of further weather events. The building and grounds committee will decide how to replace the spire, he said.

"We have the steeple and cross because we believe in the truth of the Gospel," he said. "It's not about the steeple. It's about what it represents."

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