A tornado struck St. James’ Church, Houston, Nov. 17, leaving only the sacristy and the back wall of the church standing, held in place by a huge pine tree that had fallen into the nave. No one was inside the church, and the 126 students in St. James’ School, 30 feet away, were not injured. The school building had only minor window and roof damage.

“It’s a miracle,” said Caliph Johnson, a law professor and member of St. James’ long range planning committee. “It’s almost surgical devastation,” he added, pointing out how the tornado missed the nearby middle school building.

It appears that a tornado passed over the church, causing it to cave in on itself, covering broken pews with bricks and large beams of lumber, snapped like toothpicks. One of the organ’s pipes rested among pieces of the pulpit and soggy copies of Lift Every Voice and Sing. Large branches from the many trees on the property were twisted off and thrown across the lawn, mingled with glass from a shattered window at the middle school and roof shingles. But not one brick from the church building was thrown beyond the walls of the church.

Students Kept Safe

A vibrant blue sky replaced the black clouds and thundering rain of the previous day as the rector, the Rev. Irv Cutter, surveyed the damage early the next morning. “Well, let’s clean up what we can,” he told school teachers and staff who gathered in the offices, left without electricity. He thanked them for their quick reactions on the previous afternoon, which kept all the students safe during the storm that brought flooding across the city.

St. James’ School principal Luegena Carter said she was helping one child into his mother’s waiting car and was going to get the other sibling when the car’s windshield suddenly blew out. Everyone ran into the building and she directed teachers to follow emergency procedures. “Let’s go where we practiced,” she told students. Ms. Carter, who has been at the school for nine years, credits her teachers and the children for their quick reactions.

“I have a remarkable staff and remarkable children who are obedient. They listened and everyone did just as they were told. In less than a minute, they disappeared.”

Flooded and blocked streets held up parents, some arriving after 7 p.m. for their children. Ms. Carter stayed until the last one went home. “Every child here was safe,” she said. “I owe it all to God. He had his angels protecting us.”

Fr. Cutter stood by the rubble shaking his head and taking calls from other clergy in the area, the news media and the mayor’s office. Diocesan officials arrived by 7 a.m. to offer support, help arrange for tree removal and insurance adjusters.

“We are so grateful that no one was hurt,” said the Rt. Rev. Don Wimberly, Bishop of Texas. He arrived early to survey the damage and offer support.

Church members arrived during the morning, walking over broken glass and pieces of shingles strewn over the sidewalk, to get a close look at the damage. They stood in small groups with their arms around one another, some crying, some just shaking their heads. State Rep. Garnet Coleman, whose family have been members for more than four decades, reminisced about how active St. James’ Church had been during the Civil Rights Movement. “There’s a lot of history here,” he said.

“We’ve received offers of a place to worship from our local Episcopal neighbors and other denominations in the area,” Fr. Cutter said, lamenting the loss of the church’s cherished pipe organ. Fr. Cutter said on Nov. 18 that he intended to hold services on the site the following Sunday when confirmations were scheduled.

Downed trees littered Southmore Street in the Southeast part of Houston. Hundred-year-old pine trees on the church’s property were twisted and uprooted, streetlights and signs twisted off at the base and hurled across the street. The church’s dumpster was lifted from the parking lot and dropped into the street’s median. Established in 1937, St. James’ Church has weathered much including a fire in the early 1970s. It now has a predominantly African American congregation of more than 400.

Carol E. Barnwell