STILL HEALING
New Bell Zion Church on Highway 25 recently installed a new roof as the first part of the reconstruction after damage was caused by the tornados that occurred in April. The next step in construction is focused on internal renovations.
The destructive tornadoes in April already may be a distant memory to many Starkville residents, but for members of New Bell Zion United Methodist Church on Highway 25, the tornado has left a lasting impression.
Lena Smith, treasurer at New Bell Zion, said she has been a member of the church all of her life. To Smith, the church is more than a building, but a place filled with memories of her parents, grandparents and children.
New Bell Zion Church was founded in the 1800s and has since undergone different reconstructions, the most prominent of which was the upgrade to its current brick building.
However, in the nearly 200 years of the church’s existence, Smith said the church had never experienced any major disasters to their buildings. That was until this past April’s storms.
The damages in Oktibbeha County, where New Bell Zion is located, were severe enough to receive national attention, with President Donald Trump declaring the county a federal disaster area last week.
The morning after the tornado, the scope of the damage could be seen, especially the path cut by the tornado that made a near miss going behind the church and tearing through the wood line.
Smith said the tornado damage left the church in need of renovations from top to bottom. Three weeks ago, the first step in rebuilding began with the installation of a new roof.
“Before we could do anything else, we had to get the roof on,” Smith said. “The people who put it on were quick, but things slowed down after that.”
Church member Charles Hendricks also grew up at New Bell Zion and said the church was blessed to not have faced any major electrical damages. Despite this blessing, Hendricks said it took some time to get everyone focused on the task ahead.
“Once we got everybody, as Lena says, to ‘Stay in their own lane’ and work on what they needed for us to make decisions on what to do, it wasn’t too bad,” Hendricks said.
Since the roof’s instillation, the church was at a standstill until the contractors responsible for installing the sheet rock arrived. However, after over two weeks of waiting, construction is finally back on track. Contractors began the sheet rock installation this past Wednesday.
While Hendricks said it would be easy to think negatively about their situation, he is trying to see the positive side and move forward.
“I’m not complaining about it because we’re not something special to nobody else,” Hendricks said. “Whatever God has for us to face, we got to face. It’s as plain as that. Right now, we just have to get back on track.”
Smith said the construction process is about over 50% done and the next steps will be to have new carpet installed, the wall’s painted and the door structure replaced.
“It’s going to be a long process, but we aren’t going anywhere,” Smith said. “We just want our church building back as soon as possible.”
Rather than having one contractor give a quote for the entire process, the church is paying for each element of construction one at a time. Due to this, Smith said she is not sure what the final cost of renovations will be in the end.
Since different contractors are being used, Hendricks said his main goal is to make sure the construction process stays on track.
“We have been doing it in stages,” Hendricks said. “I believe if we follow our ideas, we will come out successful. If we start cutting corners or adding stuff that we don’t need, that could be a problem. We just have to stay focused.”
Hendricks hopes to have the construction finished by the second Sunday of July, just in time for the church’s vacation bible school scheduled for the end of July.
“It was a pretty powerful storm. We just thank God we weren’t there when it happened,” Hendricks said. “Now we are just trying to stay focused on the church and what God wants for us.”
Until the church is finished with construction, Smith said members are currently using the New Bell Zion Outreach Center on New Light Road for the services.
Smith expressed her worry that the prolonged construction could lead to members seeking a new church.
“So far, nobody has left or talked about leaving because of the damages,” Smith said. “We’d like to keep it that way and get our building back as soon as possible.”
For individuals seeking to assist the New Bell Zion Church in the reconstruction process or with financial aid, contact Lena Smith at 662324-4674 or Charles Hendricks at 662-341-1140.