PRINCETON, Ind.—Fire marshals in Princeton, Ind., have condemned the bell tower and auditorium of First Baptist Church in the aftermath of an earthquake on April 17.
Widely reported in the news media, the earthquakes were centered in Wabash County, Ill., about twenty miles from the church. Reports indicated the quakes were felt in Des Moines, Iowa, Chicago, and St. Louis, Mo.
Pastor George Prinzing said that after the bell tower next to the auditorium was compromised, the structural engineers and fire marshal came in and inspected the north wall of the auditorium, leading to its condemnation. As a result, the nursery and classrooms below the auditorium are also unusable.
The auditorium and bell tower are about a hundred years old. The brick bell tower was topped by a wood steeple about 45 feet high. Workers have already begun to remove the top ten or fifteen feet of the structure.
“We can’t have services in the auditorium until the bell tower is taken down at least even with our regular roof line, said Pastor Prinzing. “We’re having services in the fellowship hall, with a wireless video link to another room downstairs.”
Michael Nolan, director of Baptist Builders Club, has announced plans to assist the Princeton congregation with funds from the Baptist Builders Club’s Emergency Fund.
“Floods, tornadoes, fires, hurricanes and earthquakes are not selective in their destruction,” Nolan said. “They do not respect churches. In their wake they leave mud, ashes, twisted pews, bricks falling, steeples ready to topple and memories where once stood a thriving house of worship.”
The Baptist Builders Club’s Emergency Fund is designed to give immediate assistance to GARBC churches that face natural disasters. The fund will give up to $15,000 of immediate relief as the church begins to determine its course of action.
Pastor Prinzing said the church’s damage had been widely in local television and newspaper reports. “I feel a great peace about everything. I’ve never felt more convinced that God is in control,” Pastor Prinzing said.
