Year after tornado, Idabel church back on its campus
‘We are slowly getting it done,’ pastor says of rebuild
IDABEL, Okla. —Pastor Don Myer describes the past year as doing “ministry out of a suitcase.”
The tornado that heavily damaged Trinity Baptist Church in November 2022 left Myer and the congregation gathering to worship in various locations, including a local middle school and even the Mccurtain Cinema.
“It’s definitely been a change, but you go on,” Myer said in a recent interview.
There were several tornadoes in the region that night.
The largest twister spun up in Red River County, Texas, near Clarksville, and traveled northeast for 58.4 miles, crossing the Red River, before lifting in Mccurtain County near Idabel and Broken Bow.
The tornado was classified as an EF4, with maximum winds of 170 mph, according to a report released by the Shreveport office of the National Weather Service. It had a maximum width of 0.6 miles.
The tornado was responsible for significant damage around Idabel’s bypass, including Trinity Baptist and Kiamichi Family Medical Center.
Trinity Baptist was preparing to complete a new building when the storm ripped apart the sanctuary and flattened the shell of the new structure.
“Everything was damaged. The gym complex and old sanctuary, and the new construction that was was next to that,” Myer said.
Myer was at home, about 3 miles from the church, when the tornado hit.
“I was riding it out at home, and soon after, I started getting calls about a lot of damage at the church,” he said.
He hurried to the church and was stunned by what he saw.
“It was just gone; I was overwhelmed,” he said.
Myer is from Nebraska and no stranger to tornadoes.
“I was there in the 70s when a big tornado went through Omaha, but I came down here and everybody said this was tornado alley,” he said.
The first Sunday after the tornado, the service was held outdoors at the site.
“We had it right on the cement outside the damaged gym,” Myer said.
After that, other places began opening their doors for the congregation to gather.
“We had services at the middle school, and then Mccurtain Cinema opened up a room for us,” Myer said.
The Trinity Baptist congregation is now back on the church campus. They had their first service in the gym in October. A new educational center should be complete in January or February, followed by the new sanctuary in a couple of years.
“We are slowly getting it done and are thankful for that,” Myer said.
The day of the service in the gym, a table was set up with pictures, a notebook full of cards and letters that the congregation received after the tornado, and a few shards from the original stained-glass windows.
“It was a great day of reflection and fellowship,” Myer said.