Crashing down: High winds caused the steeple on top of Burholme Baptist Church to collapse on Sunday morning. No injuries were reported. MARIA POUCHNIKOVA / TIMES PHOTO
If you ever needed an example of a bad thing happening in the best possible way, a likely nominee would be how the Burholme Baptist Church’s steeple toppled during high winds Sunday morning.
Nobody was hurt, and that was despite the fact that services were going on when the 86-year-old structure came crashing down — next to busy Cottman Avenue, right next to a bus stop.
The congregation’s members didn’t even know the steeple had fallen, said Pastor Charles App Jr.
They were meeting in a side room to conserve heat on Sunday at 10 a.m. and didn’t know anything had happened until firefighters showed up and ordered them to evacuate, the pastor said.
The church, built in 1929, was 70 feet from the ground up to the top of the steeple, the pastor said. Thirty-three feet fell into an alley.
There had been no warning, he said, adding that he had been up on the roof in December.
Pointing to the debris that fell between the church and a donut shop next door, the pastor said he believed the mess couldn’t have been better situated had a contractor deposited it there. The sidewalk, near Rising Sun Avenue, is heavily used by pedestrians and people getting off the bus.
“The Lord looked out for them and He looked out for the worshippers,” the pastor said.
App, who has been pastor for more than 35 years, said the church has an active congregation, and members began the cleanup on Sunday. The church’s contractor had men on the site Monday.
The pastor said he expects the structure to be rebuilt, but “saving souls will always come first.”
For more information on the Burholme Baptist Church, call 215–725–3447. ••
