Ressurection

The historic nave and chancel of St. Ann's Church were destroyed. The congregation, though wounded, responded to this new challenge with a spirit of love and redemption. Members and friends sifted through the rubble looking for delicate pieces of history.

The original baptismal font was found intact as well as some historic stained glass.

"This is not a demolition zone," the Revd. Lisa Hunt, rector of the parish, told newspaper reporters as parishoners cleared the rubble. "This is a construction site. This is a Resurrection."

And the life of the church went on. On the Sunday after Easter, just three days after the disaster, the church celebrated a service of mourning and rebirth in a tent on the grounds. At this service 11 adults were confirmed by the Bishop of Tennessee.

"God was not in the tornado,"; the Rector, Lisa Hunt, told one reporter. "God was in the response to the tornado." And the response was overwhelming.

Next - the church breaks ground to begin to rebuild