Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln Counties
Area News of Churches and Related Christian Events
VOL. ENO. 7
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1992
~ REPUBLIC NEWSPAPERS
Lightning
strikes in
Lincolnton
By RENEE WALSER
At about 9:30 p.m. on
April 20, 1991, a Saturday
evening, lightning struck
Emanuel United Church of
Christ on Main Street in
‘Lincolnton. What could
have been the loss of a his-
torical building turned into
the resurrection of a refur-
bished sanctuary for the
community.
~~ Though fire fighters
were on the scene at 9:47
p.m. and contained the fire
to the roof and attic, there
was quite a bit of water
damage to the interior of
the church.
"As the fire chief put
it, it was a glorified attic
five, " said the Rev. Blaine
Edele.
= Since that night, the
150 congregants have been
meeting in the fellowship
hall in the rear of the build-
ag while construction
crews top the chapel with a
new roof and repair and
renovate the interior sanc-
tuary.
Thanks to a provident
decision to change insur-
ance carriers three weeks
before the fire, tragedy was
waylaid in that the new
coverage is a total replace-
ment package up to $5 mil-
lion. The church's previous
carrier only insured a total
blanket coverage of
$325,000. The expected cost
of the repairs is $600,000,
according to Edele.
Edele tells the story of
a similar accident that oc-
curred in 1953 when a vio-
lent wind and rain storm
blew off the top of one side
of the church's tower. Rain
did a considerable amount
of damage, also. But the co-
incidental part of the story,
and the humorous side, ac-
cording to Edele, is that the
church had changed insur-
ance just before the acci-
dent occurred. Edele chuck-
led and said that they
would have a hard time
changing insurance again if
they wanted.
The new insurance
carrier is the United
Church of Christ Insurance
Advisory Board and
Atlantic Mutual Co. is the
underwriter. With the new
insurance, all of the stained
glass windows can be re-
placed at a cost of $75,115,
whereas, under the old in-
surance, only $50 per win-
dow was allocated.
Edele said the church
has also received $6,000 in
donations from private
‘sources to help with the
renovations.
Some improvements
are being made, such as a
heating and air condition-
ing system, replacement of
the bell tower roof, upgrad-
ed organ, a sound system,
upgraded piano and im-
proved attic ventilation.
Edele praised the in-
surance company saying
the agent for western North
Carolina was on site within
24 hours and the claims
See Church, P-5
Before