New Hope Pentecostal Church reopens after tornado.
Rev. Bruce Shaw in front of the New Hope Pentecostal Church at 364 Central Street in Springfield. The church, damaged by the tornado is reopening this Sunday, June 12.Located at 364 Central Street in Springfield, the church was in the direct path of the tornado that hit the area on June 1 and suffered severe damage.
Parishioners will return to the church for service on Sunday at 11:40 a.m., the first time they have been able to since the storm hit.
Last Sunday, services were held in the Marriott Hotel in downtown Springfield. “I feel blessed. It is always good to worship in one’s own church,” said the Rev. Bruce Shaw, pastor.
Shaw, who met this week with architects to determine if the building was structurally sound, said no one was in the church when the tornado struck. He said that the church’s “roof needs to be repaired” as well as “the ceiling in the sanctuary, and the foyer.” Shaw, who said he had offers from other churches to use their sanctuaries to hold services, has been “working with contractors and insurance adjusters to appraise the damage.”
Despite the damage and displacement of his church and congregation, Shaw said that the damage of the tornado has not shaken or challenged his faith. “If anything, my faith has increased. Hearing how worse the tornado could’ve been and the minimal loss of life, I know that God is still in control and HE’s gonna take us through,” said Shaw, who participated in the healing and prayer service on June 8 in the aftermath of the storm at Christ Church Cathedral.
That evening he told those assembled, “God, we stand before your stunned,” adding “but you have stood with us in the past and carried us through hardship.”
Other area churches damaged in the June 1 tornado include the Unitarian Universalist Parish and The First Church of Monson, both in Monson, the Victory Temple Church of God in Christ in West Springfield and Spring of Hope Church of God in Christ in Springfield.
The National Weather Service has said there were three separate tornadoes that struck June 1, killing 4 people and damaging some 400 homes in 18 communities in Western Massachusetts.
The most severe one was an EF-3 that carved a half-mile-wide path for 39 miles from Westfield to Charlton. An EF-1 with speeds of 90 mph touched down in Wilbraham. It was 200 yards wide and traveled 3.6 miles. Another EF-1 touched down in North Brimfield. It was 100 yards wide and traveled 1.3 miles.