Church Ceiling Collapses While Pastor, Congregation Pray About Angels; Nobody Gets Hurt
A pastor and his congregation in Arlington, Va., are now counting their blessings and thanking God for covering them under the wings of angels after the roof of their historic church building collapsed as they prayed ironically about angels on Sunday and everyone escaped unhurt.
An NBC Washington report said as the pastor of the Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church prayed with his congregation Sunday, the ceiling simply cracked and fell to the ground just above the choir.
"That goes to show you, that the angels were spreading their wings so that nobody got hurt," said church member Greg Livingston. "Nobody got hurt. And everyone got out."
"I heard move, move, and then the ceiling came down," said another member of the quick-footed congregation who said the choir members dashed out of the way inspiring the rest of the congregation to do the same before the ceiling crashed into the choir loft.
Lomax African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is one of Arlington's oldest continuing black churches and dates back to 1922. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Despite the roof damage, firefighters declared the church useable warning that as long as congregants avoided the pulpit.
"God's still looking out for us," said Stan Kendall, a member of the church's board of trustees.
