May 8, 2003
by Jan Nunley and Julie Denman

Powerful storms ripped across West Tennessee late Sunday, May 4, killing at least 15 people, injuring 77, and causing more than $5 million in damage - including the destruction of one of Tennessee's oldest churches, St. Luke's in downtown Jackson.

The National Weather Service rated the storms at F4 on the Fujita scale, packing winds at over 205 mph.

With hail hitting all around, St. Luke's rector, the Rev. Chuck Filiatreau, rushed to the church. His wife Gretchen made some phone calls and St. Luke's members began to travel the darkened streets to gather at their place of worship, which dates from 1844 and is one of the oldest buildings in the city.

"You never know when something like this is going to happen, and last night it happened to us," Filiatreau told The Tennessean two days after the storms. "Other churches have gone through similar disasters and rebuilt. I know we'll do the same."

"Today was quite emotional," St. Luke's member Tommy Rhoads said. "We lost the Tiffany window, which depicted St. Luke. However, the oldest windows in the building, the Italian mosaics, were spared, as was most of the stuff' in the nave."

" he front of the church is just an eight-foot pile of bricks," said another St. Luke's member, Jimmy Harrison. "I climbed into the nave. This is the old part of the church - destroyed. Our church was so beautiful, so serene - and now it's rubble. We will worship in the parish hall. This parish family will do fine. We're strong. We've got strong leaders, and we're a strong congregation."

No wailing, only work

Other West Tennessee parishes and organizations chipped in to help immediately. By email, members of the Daughters of the King learned that the husband of a chapter president in Memphis, Don Smith, traveled to Jackson on Monday with prayer books in hand and began work with about 30 others, including diocesan bishop Don Johnson, on the St. Luke's site.

Smith said that one side of the church's roof had beams with only the sky above them. The pews, covered with plastic sheeting, were put on the side of the nave that had more plywood roofing left. The rest of the church, he reported, especially the children's area, is "a mess" due to the damaged roof and the water coming in. Smith called the people of St. Luke's "courageous," and added that there was "no wailing, only work" on the cleanup.

Many other communities in the area were damaged. The Rev. Jack Rogers reported that St. Mary's, Dyersburg, received minor damage.

"Many people from across the diocese have called offering assistance, and we are relaying those messages of support to these two congregations," said Julie Denman, director of communications for the diocese. "Because there are no phone lines into St. Luke's at the present, communication is difficult, and we don't know at the present what their immediate needs are, let alone long-term needs. However, due to the extent of the damage, it will be costly."

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of Episcopal News Service. Julie Denman is director of communication for the Diocese of West Tennessee and editor of Church News.