COLUMBUS, Ohio — No one would fault him for being angry, but he’s not. No one would fault him for being bitter. But, he’s not.
You could say Pastor Russell Street just sees life through a different window.
“Well, we understand that things happen every day,” he said. “A fire that destroys a building, it’s just a building.”
In one month, Street will celebrate one year being the pastor at Williams Road Free Will Baptist Church.
In one night, it all came to a temporary stop. Sunday evening, a fire tore through the ceiling of the church’s sanctuary.
“The main damage is to the sanctuary,” he said. “The roof has collapsed in there. There’s a lot of water damage.”
The building, he says, will be rebuilt. He knows, though, a building is not the church.
“The church is the people,” he said. “We’ll get past this. This is just a bump in the road.”
He’s not angry and he’s not bitter. Looking through the church’s nursery window at what’s left of the sanctuary, he’s thankful.
“The miracles always got to come from somewhere,” he said.
Thankful no one was hurt. Thankful their mission is more than four walls. Thankful for an unseen but felt presence knowing everything will be as it should.
“Sometimes things happen so that the world can see what God can do,” he said.
Street says the church was insured. Monday, crews were on site helping to secure the building.