Heavenward

Members of LeSueur River Lutheran, a rural church located northeast of New Richland, can still tell you when the steeple was blown off their house of worship by a tornado: 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, 2020.

Various circumstances have stretched the process out, but members are thrilled to know their steeple-less building will have its bell and its entire classic shape again within a few days. A rebuilt steeple will soon be raised into place by an especially tall crane being brought in for the purpose.

The church’s bell, first purchased in 1883 and weighing 1,250 pounds, has been refurbished and now shines like new. Congregation members say they look forward to hearing it ring. “There’s something unique about the sound of a bell from a country church,” observes church member Matt Groskreutz.

Church leaders shake their heads when they consider what could have happened: When the bell fell, the metal framework which suspended it was broken. The bell left an inches-deep indentation in the road. It missed a metal construction dumpster, which could have easily caused it to be permanently damaged, by inches.

For the time being, the rebuilt steeple stands alongside the church building, rivaling its height. It, too, sends a message of renewal. Its shingles and any temporarily visible areas of wood are completely unweathered.

Church leaders say it’s nearly inexpressible what it took to get to this point.

The night of the tornado, a construction crew had just finished a $130,000 remodelling project inside the church. “We didn’t even get to have one service in it,” observed Groskreutz. The silver lining was that the equipment the construction crew had been using was still parked on site: workers had the tools needed to put up a temporary roof.

After the June 2 storm moved through, news spread quickly that the steeple had fallen. “It blew down, landed on the church roof, and then dropped down onto the road,” describes Jim Kortz, who has been the contact point for the replacement over the past 2.5 years.

“People were there salvaging things,” remembers Judy Kortz. “We kind of walked around in shock.”

An independent adjuster determined there had been $817,000 worth of damage.

The insurance company began processing the claim and matters at the church settled into a new “normal,” that is, as much as “normal” was possible remembering the Covid-19 pandemic was underway. An engineer was sent to determine what it would take to build and install a replacement, and everyone knew it would take time for plans to be drawn, finances to be settled, and work to begin.

Church leaders were astounded at the number of people who contacted the church, literally from all over the country, offering prayers and financial contributions. They explain most were connected to the church in some way–either because they had once attended it, or because they were family to someone who attended. Of the 300 or so baptized members of the church, many can trace their connection back six or more generations.

Fundraisers were held, some of them sponsored by other organizations. Congregation treasurer Jan Wenzel mentions Cross of Glory church in Hartland held one just last year in support of the project.

“We were so grateful for the way people jumped in and helped,” comments congregation president Lori Routh. “We never had any doubt everything would be put back together.”

More than two years passed, at which time Jim Kortz–who had recently retired–was asked to look into the status of the claim at the insurance company.

“Nothing was happening,” he says, a tone of surprise still evident in his voice. “It was like they had completely forgotten the claim.” Jim speculates part of the problem was staff changeover and confusion caused by the pandemic, but whatever the reason, it took two weeks of phone calls and questions from Jim to get things rolling again.

A new engineer was assigned and let the congregation know there would have to be some major upgrades.

“The old steeple tower wasn’t up to code, you see,” mentions Wenzel. Neither, it turned out, were the stairs which led up to the balcony. Even the balcony railing did not meet code, and would have to be made more than a foot taller.

Even more significantly, the structure underneath the bell tower was deemed insufficient. Before a new steeple could be installed, upright metal beams had to be added in order to meet code requirements.

To install the metal beams, a Bobcat vehicle was driven down the stairs to the church basement and used a corkscrew-shaped attachment to drill holes and install beams. The new supports extend about 17 feet below the church basement floor.

“The joke now,” comments Groskreutz, “is that next time there’s a tornado, the church will blow away and the steeple will still be standing there.”

Leaders comment on how respectful and careful all the workers have been, consistently protecting the interior of the church, and always removing their equipment and materials, so that church gatherings were never interfered with.

Church members were asked to make numerous decisions. It was known, for example, that the church had previously had two steeples. The first one, built in the late 1870s along with the church, reportedly reached 95 feet into the sky. Years later, upon the encouragement of a pastor who felt it would be appropriate to glorify God with an even taller structure, a second steeple which reached to 125 feet was built right over the first one.

Once the discussion regarding height began, leaders remember, it meandered between the extremes of not replacing the steeple at all to recreating the 125-foot profile. After lengthy discussion, it was decided to restore the full height. Code, however, specified that it would have to be a bit narrower and steeper than the structure which was destroyed.

“It’s been a process, that’s for sure,” observes Jim.

Within the upcoming days when the crane arrives and the steeple is raised into place, church leaders make a number of predictions.

“It’s a good thing it’s tall, and you can see it from a long way back,” comments Judy Kortz. “Because a lot of people are going to want to come watch.” She predicts a line of cars on both sides of the road extending both east and west from the church.

“It will be beautiful,” suggests Routh. “We’ve waited and worked for this for a long time. Everyone will be really pleased to see it restored.”

As for themselves, with the controversy, the complications, the communication and coordination needed to interact with the many agencies and workers needed to get everything done, the leaders predict seeing the tower and the bell lifted into place will also provide, for them, a tremendous sense of a weight being lifted off their shoulders.

“We’re looking forward to it,” comments Jim with a smile.