Churches and chapels are special to people all over the world. While most are beautiful and noble, there are some that are quite unusual and a few that are downright strange. I’m your host Leah. I’m Phil And I’m Steve. Today we wish to present to you some of those more unusual houses of worship.
’ve been fortunate in my travels to have the opportunity to visit dozens of unique church buildings around the world. I’ve seen big churches, small churches, thriving churches, abandoned church ruins and everything in between. A few of them easily stand out in my mind.
In 2013 I was fortunate to be part of a summer fellowship for teachers on a tour of South Korea. They took us into the hills and mountains to visit a couple of ancient Buddhist Temples. I remember one in particular that was so high in the mountains that clouds occasionally drifted in and obscured the view. The temple complex contained several buildings including a library where ancient wood carved printing blocks were stored. Another building with open sides contained a statue of Buddha. Several people were involved in a ceremony as we watched. There was also an enormous bell that was rung by swinging a huge log which was suspended on chains. For 1000 wan or about $10 they would let you ring this bell. These ancient sites were certainly interesting, but perhaps the most unusual church I visited in Korea was in the capital Seoul. It is called Yoedo Full Gospel Fellowship. It bills itself as the largest Christian church in the world with some 800,000 members. Walking into the building felt like walking in to a domed stadium, it was huge! Each Sunday they have seven different services, and they beg people not to go to more than one. The service was in Korean, but they had headphones with English translations.
Another church that stands out to me was one we visited in 2015 in Ravena, a small city on the northeast coast of Italy. In Ravena sits the Basilica of San Vitale which was completed in 525 AD. From the outside this church looks rather ordinary, but from the inside it boasts some of the most amazing mosaics you have ever seen. The domed ceiling and the high walls contain what at first glance appears to be brilliant paintings, but upon closer inspection are revealed to be mosaics made of tiny bits of stone, marble, and glass. There are so many of them that it is quite awe inspiring. They depict Jesus and the 12 disciples as well as numerous other Biblical scenes. It’s amazing that for 1,500 years these have remained in place, especially considering that during WW II the railway in Ravena was bombed less than a mile away from the church.
One more that I will share about that I visited on my recent trip to the U.K. My cousin’s wife, Catherine, took us to visit an ancient farming village called Abbotsbury which was located in a beautiful green meadow just behind a rolling hill that sits next to the sea. On top of this hill is the shell of St Catherines Chapel. This chapel had been built in the late 1300s as a Catholic Church and Monastery but was dissolved in 1539 by King Henry VIII when he broke from the Pope. The setting is stunning even though St. Catherines is just an empty shell. Just down the slope in the town of Abbotsbury sits the Anglican Church. This small church showed considerable signs of life and current use which made me happy. The ancient wooden pews were covered with cushions that sported beautiful needlepoint patterns. On the walls of the church hung a large portrait of Queen Elizabeth. We were there just two weeks after her passing. Also on the walls were two plaques that caught my attention. The first one was titled Abbotsbury Roll of Honour which listed the names of 13 men from the village who had died in WW I. Another plaque nearby read, “We record with hearty thanks to Almighty God that during the Second World War no parishioners of Abbotsbury lost their lives to enemy action.”
We’ve touched on this topic in some of our previous episodes. You might recall our S2E03 Behold the Mermaid where we discussed the church in Zennor, England with an unusual piece of furniture, the Mermaid Chair. The wooden seat dates back possibly to the
15th century. It is carved from oak and depicts a woman with long
hair and a curvaceous figure, but in place of human legs she has a
scaly tail with fins. There’s an interesting local legend that accompanies this chair that we detailed in that episode.
Then there was S2E14 about strange monuments. In that episode we detailed the bizarre figure that looks like Darth Vader that is carved on the outside of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. This was done as the result of a contest of some kind which involved design ideas from school children..
Then in our S3E13 Secret Societies episode, our ODJ was about a divided church. No, not divided over doctrine or even the color of the carpet. This church in the Austrian mountains is literally built in two pieces. The preacher stands in one section and the congregation in the other. Furthermore, a road runs right through the middle of the church. If you have time after you listen to this episode, go back and check out these.
The Chicken Church From Atlas Obscura we learn about an odd church in Indonesia. Back in the 1980s a gentleman named Daniel Amalsjah had a vision. He interpreted the message in his vision as instructions for him to construct a giant church that would be in the shape of a dove. It was to become a place of peace and harmony, at least those were his intentions. A remote forested hillside was selected, and construction began. Unfortunately, some problems occurred somewhere between the drawing board and the construction site because instead of a dove, the church more closely resembled a giant chicken. The huge squawking like head and the stylized tail feathers have led locals to refer to the structure as the Chicken Church.
The Chicken Church opened its doors (or spread its wings) in the 1990s. It was hoped to be a house of prayer for all faiths. Unfortunately, its remote location prevented it from seeing much use. By 2000 the doors were closed. The Chicken Church sat empty and moldering over the next several years, becoming more bizarre looking as its painted façade peeled and cracked.
But recently the facility has been reopened. Local artists have covered the inner walls with vibrant murals showing local mythology and history and there’s a small cafe nestled within the chicken’s rear that sells traditional, tasty treats. You can even climb up to the top of the bird’s head for amazing 360-degree views. So the Chicken Church lives on, maybe not fulfilling the original visionary’s dreams, but still providing an interesting stop for tourists visiting the area.
Going Underground
Most of the following information comes from articles on cnbc.com and listverse.com about unusual churches. Some of these are actually underground. I don’t mean that they meet in secret like many religious groups have been forced to do, but rather they were literally built underground.
In the city of Lalibela, Ethiopia there are no less than eleven churches that have been completely chiseled out of the rocky ground. The largest of these descends more than thirty feet from the surface. Built in the late 1100s or early 1200s (no one is exactly certain) with simple hand tools and chisels, these subterranean churches contain a complex system of doors and windows, ornate decorations, and an impressive drainage system. Generally, trenches were excavated in a rectangle, isolating a solid granite block. The block was then carved both externally and internally, the work proceeding from the top downward.
The churches are arranged in two separate groups connected by a tunnel. It is thought that they were constructed by the order of an Ethiopian king who claimed to have been visited by an angel. Lalibela is now a UNISCO World Heritage Site.
Now there is a reference in Matthew 5 in which Jesus calls his followers the Salt of the Earth. Some miners in Poland took this message literally when they carved chapels out of a salt mine. Of course mining has always been a dangerous job, and it makes sense that miners would want to make sure that God is with them before they head to work.
Near the town of Wieliczka, (Vee Leetz Ka) Poland the Wieliczka Salt Mines have been worked continuously since the 13th century. During their work, the miners carved chapels directly out of the salt. As they moved on to new areas they created new chapels. No one knows how many chapels were made, but at least five of them remain. The newest one is dedicated to Poland’s native son Pope John Paul II who visited the mines several times. Located hundreds of feet underground, these chapels are still used for worship today. They are also popular places for weddings and tourists’ events.
A little further north from Poland we locate the Rock Church in Helsinki, Finland. This church is a modern spin on the Ethiopian idea of digging a church directly out of the bedrock. The church was designed by architects and brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen and opened in 1969. Officially called Tempelplatsens kyrka, the Rock Church is a Lutheran Church and is also one of the most popular tourist attractions in Helsinki. This beautiful church’s walls were hewn from natural on-site stone formations and sports a roof made of brilliant copper. The rock walls give the church amazing acoustics which has led to the facility being used for musical concerts.
Getting Staved
The country of Norway boasts some of the most beautiful scenery to be found anywhere on the planet. But strategically placed throughout the country are some unique and beautiful houses of worship that have been standing for over 800 years. These wooden structures are known as Stave Churches due to their construction from wooden timbers called staves. The wooden staves rise vertically from stone foundations and are tongue and grooved so that the staves fit into one another to form a sturdy wall. There are no nails or other types of fasteners used. The stave churches combine Viking shipbuilding techniques with Christian design elements.
More than twenty stave churches remain in Norway. Perhaps the most impressive is the one located at Borgund which is some sixty miles inland from Bergen on the west coast. The Borgund Stave Church was constructed around the year 1200 and remains remarkably intact. From the outside it gives the appearance of a five-layer coocoo clock with each tier somewhat smaller than the one below. The highest level rises over forty feet from the ground. The rooves are pitched steeply and covered with pitch to protect the wood from rain and snow. On each of its four gables is a stylized "dragon" head, swooping from the carved roof ridge crests. It has been noted that these dragons resemble those placed on the bows of Viking ships. It is not certain what the dragons’ purpose is, but as Norway was transitioning from the old Norse gods to Christianity, the meaning likely has something to do with warding off evil
When Scandinavian immigrants settled in the Midwestern U.S. they brought their stave loving tradition with them, well at least some of them did. Two pristine examples are the Stavkirke on Washington Island, Wisconsin and the Moorhead Stave Church in Moorhead, Minnesota. Both of these modern examples of ancient architecture were built around the year 2000.
The Upside-down Church of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I’ve never been to Calgary, Alberta but it looks like a beautiful city as it is nestled up against the Canadian Rockies. However, within the city is a very curious art installation called The Device to Root Out Evil. This sculpture represents a tilted, upside down, 25-foot-tall country style church, which has a steeple that is thrust into the ground and base raised up high in the air. The artist named Dennis Oppenheimer unveiled the sculpture in Vienna back in 1997. Oppenheimer describes the sculpture this way. “A country church is seen balancing on its steeple, as if it had been lifted by a terrific force and brought to the site as a device or method of rooting out evil forces.” In essence the steeple of the church is seen as a spade of sorts to dig up and root out the evil. Oppenheimer offered the sculpture to New York City, Los Angeles, and Vancouver BC, but all declined politely. (What were they thinking) But the forward-thinking folks in Calgary said, “Pick us, we love it!”
The Air Force Academy Chapel Colorado Springs, Colorado is a picturesque city which sits against the front range of the Rocky Mountains. It is also the home of the United States Air Force Academy. Prominently situated on the campus is the Air Force Academy Chapel. According to fodors.com the design of this chapel is intended to resemble seventeen jet fighter wings pointed toward the sky. Critics claimed that the building with its aluminum clad steel framed spires looked like an accordion. When it was completed in 1963 one critic described it as, “a deliberate insult to God the Almighty, and a social and spiritual fiasco!” Unlike the severe angles of the building’s exterior, the interior is surprisingly warm and welcoming. Stained-glass strip windows on the slanted walls allow colored light to pool on the floor with a sparkly effect because some of the glass slabs were deliberately chipped. An aluminum cross 46 feet high, with a startling resemblance to sailplane wings, hangs above the altar. The ends of the mahogany pews resemble propellors from WW I biplanes. In spite of the disdain of the early critics, the Air Force Academy Chapel is the most visited man-made attraction in the state of Colorado. The Chapel is currently closed for a multi-million dollar renovation but is expected to reopen in 2024.
The Old Round House in Richmond Vermont Round churches are unusual, but not unheard of. In fact Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher which marks the location of the tomb where Jesus’ body was placed is round in shape. Back in the early 1800s folks in the town of Richmond, Vermont did not have a place to worship. They turned to local carpenter and blacksmith William Rhodes who sold the local parishioners on the idea of a round church, or to be more specific, a sixteen sided church. The church was constructed so that members of the various denominations could come together under one roof. The Round Church also served as the town’s meeting house. It was not recorded why Rhodes selected this unusual shape, but a local legend states that a round church leaves the devil with no corner to hide in. Seventeen local carpenters were employed in the construction of the round church – one for each of the sixteen walls and one for the round belfry which sits on top of the building. The Round Church opened in 1814 but is now owned by the Richmond, Vermont Historical Society and is mostly used for weddings, baptisms, concerts, and meetings.
ODJ: Animals that Mate for Life
https://www.interestingfacts.com/animals-that-mate-for-life/Y88d--tZiAAJNN7j
You know, scientists are learning more about the animal kingdom all the time. Of particular interest to many scientists are the mating habits and rituals that exist among different species. Mating rituals are essential for a species survival. A recent article on interestingfacts.com detailed six different animals that mate for life. This is quite unusual in the animal kingdom, so much so that when we come across a specie that does mate for life, it demands our attention. So here are six creatures that know a thing or two about monogamy.
The first one surprised me. Our national symbol, bald eagles, mate for life. Following a wild and crazy courtship ritual in which two birds midflight lock talons and tumble end-over-end until they nearly hit the ground. (and you think you’ve been on some wild dates!) Then the male and female settle into a period of domestic bliss marked by dad's willingness to undertake incubation and feeding duties. After the chicks leave the nest the parents might spend some time alone, but they almost always hook up again the following spring.
I’ve never been to Australia but would love to go and see the Outback. Well, one reptile resident of this vast section of Australia is the Shingleback Lizard, and yes, they also mate for life. Like Bald Eagles, these creatures stay alone for much of the year, but when the mating season comes they always hook up with the very same partner. They don’t share parenting responsibilities because there really aren’t any. The baby lizards just take off on their own. Scientists aren’t certain why these slow moving creatures remain monogamous, but theorize that it is a matter of trust as they watch out for each other while hunting for something to eat.
Now this one really surprised me. Coyotes! Unlike other branches of the canine family tree, coyotes stick with one partner for their entire life. This is likely due to the large litters of pups birthed by females. Much help is needed in feeding and protection the offspring. It also likely explains why coyotes are especially aggressive during and immediately after the breeding season. The males are doing their best to protect the dens of the vulnerable females and pups.
Here's an animal that I’m not familiar with, the Prairie Vole. These North American rodents only live for a few months, but they form strong attachments with their mates during their lives. Scientists have observed signs of mourning and grief among surviving voles when one dies. Lab studies are being conducted to learn about the hormones that fuel such strong attachments, and may even help to understand human relationships.
We have to go back down under for this next one, not only to Australia, but in the ocean surrounding it. That where we find the Sydney Seahorse. In a real one-off of nature, the female Sydney Seahorse deposits her eggs into the males body where they are fertilized and then carried for gestation. Soon after those eggs hatch, the female is back with another load of eggs. “Honey, I just hatched a batch, you want me to do more?”
And finally, we travel to Antarctica to meet the Gentoo Penguins. See if this sounds familiar. Their courtship is established when the male gives the female a pebble. This symbolic gesture marks the beginning of a lifelong relationship. (He went to Jerrod’s!) Together they build a nest and the female lays eggs. Several dozen Gentoo Penguins may colonize together, but they stay strictly monogamous. The parents share incubation duties taking turns each day. Infidelity is a serious offense and is punished with banishment from the colony.
The Inflatable Church
This next church might have been a good fit for our very first episode which was called Balloonacy. You see, we are talking about the Inflatable Church based in Sandown, England, but can be found in many locations. According to ctinsider.com the Inflatable Church resembles a giant bouncy castle, but in the shape of a traditional English church. It measures 47 feet tall from base to the tip of the steeple and is 47 feet long and 25 feet wide. It can hold as many as 60 people and comes with its own inflatable candles and stained glass windows.
The Inflatable Church held its first service in May of 2003. Church of England minister Rev. Michael Elfred invited visitors inside for the dedication ceremony. "In the church we need to try and get out into the community," Elfred said. "In a fun way this inflatable church may help some Christian communities to do just that."
The church was created in the late 90s by a Southampton business man as a promotion for a nightclub chain. Let’s just enjoy that sentence for a minute. Well, anyway, that deal fell through. I can’t imagine why a nightclub chain wouldn’t want an inflatable church as a promotional gimmick, what were they thinking?
So. the designer, Michael Gill, decided to offer it to the church community. The article quotes Gill as saying, "When I first saw it, it was beyond my wildest dreams," he said. "It is not a bouncy castle, it is a mobile, traditional English church! I realized there would be many opportunities for this product. Mobile weddings, christenings _ or even if you want to get engaged and surprise your partner!”
Gill further stated that there has been interest from some 20 countries around the world. To rent the inflatable church for a day will cost around $3,200. To buy one outright well set you back around $35,000. Gill has plans to build several more inflatable churches as well as mosques, synagogs, pubs and nightclubs.
Miraculous Staircase Out in Sante Fe, New Mexico you will find a lovely gothic style chapel called Our Lady of Light. Construction was begun on this chapel back in the 1870s, but the bishop died before the building could be completed. While the building was enclosed, no stairway existed for the nuns to climb up into the choir loft located high on the third level. They could have used a ladder, but they felt that was not appropriate and also dangerous as they wore long robes. Moreover, no space for a traditional staircase was available. What to do?
Well, the sisters did what they did best, they prayed. After nine days of concentrated prayer a shabby looking stranger showed up at their door leading a donkey. The stranger claimed that he was a carpenter and said that he would build them a staircase. But he insisted on absolute privacy and some tubs of hot water. For three months the stranger toiled alone.
Then one day he disappeared. When the nuns investigated, they found that the stranger had built a remarkable spiral staircase. The twenty-foot-tall, tightly wound stairs make two full 360-degree revolutions and has no central support. To make such a staircase using only wooden dowels is an astonishing work of craftsmanship. Furthermore, the staircase is made of spruce which is not native to the Sante Fe area.
To the nuns it was a miracle. It is still unknown who the carpenter was or how he obtained the spruce for his work, or how he managed to do the construction on his own. Our Lady of Light still functions as a chapel today and is also open for weddings. The bride and groom have permission to stand on the bottom ten steps for photos. While some may dismiss the sisters’ supernatural claims about the staircase, the stairs are still a remarkable work of beauty and craftsmanship that deserve respect on their own merits. Info: AO.com
Church of the Severed Arm Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The city was spared from the massive destruction in World War II that many other European capitals suffered. Thus, it retains much of its old-world character and charm.
One beautiful building in Prague is the Church of St. James the Greater. This stunning building is noted for its high vaulted ceilings and beautiful artwork. Nearly every possible space is elegantly decorated. Forming an odd contrast with this background is the fact that a severed human arm is hanging in the nave just as you enter the sanctuary. No, this is not the relic of a saint, it’s actually the appendage of a thief.
According to Atlas Obscura the story of the severed arm goes back to the 16th century. Evidently one night a thief entered the church and decided to help himself to some of the jewels that were adorning the icon of the Virgin Mary. But just as he pried the stone loose, the statue shifted in such a way that his arm was trapped. Try as he might, he could not get himself loose from Mary’s grip. In the morning when the monks arrived for prayer, they found the curious sight of this man with his arm in the grasp of the statue. They all tried to pull him loose, but it was to no avail. Finally, a surgeon / butcher was summoned from the nearby stockyards and the thief’s arm was severed. Immediately the statue shifted back to her original position and dropped the arm on the floor. The decision was made to hang the arm up in the nave as a warning to any others who might be tempted to rob the church.
But wait, there’s more! Not only does this church have a human arm hanging, it was also the site of a mis timed death. A prominent local landowner, Count Jan Václav Vratislav died in Vienna. His body was shipped back to Prague in a wooden coffin. At his funeral the coffin was placed in a large stone crypt that had been prepared inside the sanctuary. A couple of days after the funeral people began hearing horrible noises coming from the crypt. Assuming that the Count’s soul was having trouble finding rest, the parishioners blessed the tomb and prayed for him until the noises stopped. Years later when renovation work was being done on the church, the crypt top was removed. It was then revealed that the coffin was broken, and the Count’s skeletal remains were halfway out. Evidently, he wasn’t actually dead yet when he was entombed.
Dog Mountain, Vermont
Dog Mountain, Vermont is the home of artist Stephen Huneck. Huneck is especially well noted for his wood sculptures. Using native Vermont trees he has built a strong reputation for his amazing artistic creations as well as fine furniture. But what he is most famous for is the Dog Chapel. According to his website dogmt.com it came about in this way.
“In the mid-1990s I became gravely ill. I was in a coma for two months. The doctors had little hope for my recovery, but recover I did. I had to learn to walk, write, and carve all over again. I remember a particular evening early in my recovery very clearly. I was using a walker because my muscles had atrophied. As I placed the walker over the threshold of a room a thought flooded my head: Build a dog chapel. My first reaction was excitement. And then I started thinking, 'Geez, with what I owe in medical bills I'd be lucky to build a little dog house.'
Huneck began sharing his ideas with some of his customers and friends. To his surprise they were quite enthusiastic about the idea and several contributed large sums of money toward the project. Working on the chapel helped Huneck in his recovery from his illness. The Dog Chapel opened in the year 2000.
From the outside the chapel looks like a traditional New England country church except that there is a doggy door built into the front door which also sports a dog head door knob. Inside the wooden pews and altars are dog shaped. The stained glass windows accentuate the chapel with earthy doggy hues.
Huneck began inviting people to bring photos of their deceased dogs and post them on the back wall along with a small note of thanks for the dog’s companionship. Before long the wall was full and the photos and notes began to fill up the wall space of the entire chapel. Quoting from Huneck’s website, "When you visit the Dog Chapel you are totally enveloped with messages of love. It is a very moving experience - sad, certainly, but also uplifting - to see how much everyone cherishes his or her dog. Grieving for a lost dog is one aspect of the Dog Chapel, but equally important is celebrating the joy of living and the bond between dogs and their owners.” Isn’t that nice! The Dog Chapel is open Fridays through Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Cardboard Cathedral
You might expect that a place named Christchurch, New Zealand would have an interesting church, and you would be correct. But you might not suspect that their cathedral is largely made of cardboard.
You might recall hearing about a devastating earthquake that struck New Zealand on February 22, 2011. The 6.2 level quake was centered near the city of Christchurch and did severe damage to numerous buildings including the Christchurch Cathedral which was well over 100 years old. Plans are underway to restore the Cathedral, but that will take many years. So where are church members to meet in the mean time?
The pastor of the church contacted a Japanese architect named Shigeru Ban who is known as a disaster architect. In other words he helps design structures that can be quickly assembled after a disaster. Ban came up with the idea of a large A Frame structure which would be largely composed of cardboard tubes.
Officially called the Transitional Cathedral, the structure has become known as the Cardboard Cathedral by locals. It rises nearly 70 feet from the floor to the peek of the A Frame roof. The building consists of some 96 vertically placed cardboard tubes, each two feet in diameter, which have been reinforced with laminated wood beams and coated and waterproofed with polyurethane and fire retardants. On the front of the A Frame are triangular pieces of stained glass which allow light to filter into the building. The back wall was made from shipping containers. The building can seat 700 worshipers and can also be used as a conference venue and even catered events. Oddly enough The Cardboard Cathedral has become Christchurch’s number one tourist attraction. Though originally envisioned as a temporary structure, the church plans to keep the structure as an auxiliary meeting place and to be used for special events.
The Cliff Church (Katskhi, Georgia)
I’ve been associated with churches for most of my life. And, yes, during that time I have occasionally come across a person who got mad at something and went off to start their own church. Perhaps they might feel at home at the Cliff Church of Katskhi located in the country of Georgia. This church is located on a 130 foot tall pillar and has a congregation of exactly one!
Located on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, the country of Georgia boasts some dramatic scenery including a valley characterized by several tall limestone monolithic pillars. These tall pillars have long been known as sacred places, even back in the pagan times. When Christianity took hold in the area the pillars became popular with a sect called the Stylites who apparently had an obsession with tall narrow pillars. The Stylites liked to worship on top of these pillars because they thought it brought them closer to God. They became known as Pillar Monks and they sometimes spent years atop these monoliths, separating themselves from the rest of the world and devoting themselves to prayer.
Sometime between the 6th and 9th Centuries the Stylites built two small churches on top of the 130 foot tall pillar. No one knows how they managed to do it. They evidently were excellent rock climbers and somehow hauled up the building materials needed.
In the 15th Century Georgia fell under the rule of the Ottoman Turks who were Muslim. The Stylites were prevented from carrying on their practice under Muslim rule. The small churches remained unoccupied for the next several centuries. It wasn’t until after WW II that someone climbed the pillar again.
In the 1990s an Orthodox monk named Father Maxim Qavtaradze rebuilt one of the small churches with the help from the local villagers and money from donors throughout the country. He built a 40 meter long iron ladder to enter and leave the column, which he called “the stairway to heaven”. Today Father Qavtaradze is the only worshiper at the Cliff Church of Katshki. Only one photographer has ever been allowed to capture his image, and he had to agree to participate in a seven hour prayer service first. We will include a picture of the church and of Father Qavtaradze on our Facebook page.
Choir Members Saved from Blast Now this final story is not really about an unusual church building, but the story is so amazing that we couldn’t leave it out.
Up in the Great Plains of the Midwest we find the small farming town of Beatrice, Nebraska. Located to the south of Lincoln and just north of the Kansas border, Beatrice is a typical Midwest town. But back in 1950 something very untypical occurred here. It was a disaster and a miracle all at the same time. This comes to us from an article in medium.com
On Wednesday March 1, 1950 at the West Side Baptist Church in Beatrice, choir practice was scheduled to begin at 7:20 p.m. This was the usual time for choir practice. Members usually gathered by 7:15. However this night the practice didn’t begin on time.
The Reverend Walter Klempel, his wife, and his daughter were just about to leave their home when a stain was noticed on the daughter’s dress. The reverend’s wife picked out a new dress and began ironing it. They were going to be late for practice.
The pianist and her mother who was the choir director were planning to be at the church a half hour early, but the pianist decided to take a nap and overslept. At 7:15 her mother tried to wake her up, but she was still quite groggy. It would take a few minutes for her to get ready. They were going to be late for practice.
Two high school girls always traveled to practice together. But this evening they got caught up in a radio program that didn’t end until 7:30. They were going to be late for practice.
Two sisters Royena and Sadie Estes planned on leaving early, but their car wouldn’t start. They called one of their friends, Ladona Vandergrift, to ask for a ride. Ladona, a high school student, said she was finishing up her geometry lesson, but would be happy to give them a ride after she solved her final question which was a challenging one. They were all going to be late for practice.
Herbert Kipf, one of the few men in the choir, was heading out the door early when he remembered an important unfinished letter that he needed to write. He sat down to finish the letter. Herbert was going to be late for practice.
Mrs Schuster left her home early with her small daughter Susan. However, she had promised to stop at her mother’s home to help her prepare for a missionary meeting. The preparations took longer than originally thought. Mr. Schuster and her daughter were going to be late for practice.
Harvey Ahl’s wife was away for the evening. He normally attended choir practice alone, but with his wife away he was going to have to take his two young boys along. Getting them ready took longer than he realized. Harvey was going to be late for practice.
Joyce Black actually lived across the street from the church. But on that cold evening she was just feeling lazy. The evening was very cold, and she was all huddled up in her warm house. She didn’t feel like going out and stayed until the last possible moment.
So at 7:20 that evening choir practice didn’t start as all fifteen members of the West Side Baptist Church Choir were delayed for one reason or another.
At 7:25 PM the empty church exploded. Later, firemen would theorize that a gas leak caused it. The blast was heard in the entire town of Beatrice. It shattered the windows of buildings and disconnected the radio station. The West Side Baptist Church shattered to smithereens. The roof collapsed and the walls exploded outwards in an explosion that would have killed anyone inside.
But not a single person was there, they had all been late for practice!
Info an article fro Medium.com
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