On Feb. 23, 2019 at 5:23 p.m., Steve Blaylock got a call from a congregant saying a tornado hit the First Pentecostal Church he pastored in East Columbus.
Less than 20 minutes later, as he pulled into the church parking lot, Blaylock saw the church’s front wall and rooms were gone, leaving the balcony and sanctuary exposed to the elements. Its tin roof had been thrown into the woods.
“It was a mess,” Blaylock said. “It was like a death to our church family. … We weren’t prepared for anything like that. We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know where to go. We just knew we kind of had to pull everybody together.”
But on Thursday afternoon, nearly five years after the tornado struck, Blaylock met with The Dispatch in the church’s new building on the same lot. The renamed Authentic Church stands on Tuscaloosa Road as a testament to what Blaylock called, “tragedy to tremendous blessing.”
“It’s hard to believe it’s been almost five years,” Blaylock said. “We’ve been in our present building for almost two years.”
Recovery from the loss, Blaylock said, began the day after the storm, when about 180 volunteers arrived to help clean up the property and hold a worship service.
During that day’s service, Blaylock said, he was supposed to perform three baptisms. Though he told his congregants the baptistry was gone, one asked if there was any way the baptisms could still go forward.
Blaylock said FPC borrowed a portable baptistry from Vibrant Church and set it up at the church site. He performed between 12 to 15 baptisms, allowing the congregation to feel “compassion and the love of Christ even in the middle of our tragedy.”
Church member Bryan Day said he has been a member of the church for the past seven years. He called recovery from the storm “a long journey,” but he said the next-day service helped the congregation to pull together and to collect anything that could be recovered.
“A lot of the items that were on the stage were undamaged or not significantly damaged, which was kind of a blessing, there,” Day said.
Over the next few months, FPC received help from other local churches. Blaylock said it temporarily met in another church building until they started renting from Calvary Church on Lehmberg Road. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“The city shut all churches down, you know, everything,” Blaylock said. “We came one Sunday morning and there was a note on the door that no more than 10 people (could) gather in these buildings.”
Higher ground
The pandemic made the church pivot in a few ways, Blaylock said, including switching to a livestream and eventually gathering outside in the parking lot. But once the congregation could meet in person again, the church kept looking for another building.
When looking at property costs, Blaylock said the church decided to rebuild on its old lot. But, there was a catch. The former FPC property was built in a floodplain, Blaylock said, meaning a new, higher spot closer to the road had to be chosen for a new building to be constructed.
Day said the church held several meetings about the design of a new, more modern building, gathering ideas from the congregation. He said the process had some “ups and downs,” as the members knew that funding may be tricky, but the people pulled together and often gave extra where they could.
Blaylock said the church also received FEMA relief funds to help complete the project. The new building opened in November 2022, and at the same time, the church took on a new name – Authentic Church.
A few other things have also changed at Authentic Church since the storm. Blaylock said some families left following the tornado, a few due to post traumatic stress. And, unfortunately, the church has held many funerals for its elder members during the past few years.
But not all changes have been negative. Blaylock said the new building does not contain a permanent baptistry. Instead, the church still uses a portable baptistry, just like it did the day after the tornado, so it can hold baptisms in the church sanctuary, lobby or even outside on the old FPC concrete slab.
“This past year, ironically, we baptized 58 people,” Blaylock said. “And we’re on pace to match that or do better this year.”
“The future is bright at Authentic Church,” he added.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
