BENTONVILLE, Ind. (WTHR) — A series of tornadoes roared through central Indiana on June 15, 2019, including an EF-0 that touched down in Bentonville.
The northern Fayette County community lost their church, which dated back to the 1850s. The storm blew out a wall and the roof collapsed.
In the days following the storm, volunteers came from miles around to help remove debris. People from surrounding states also gave to the rebuilding effort.
Bentonville Volunteer Firefighters helped clear the sanctuary of items, including the pulpit.
The rains destroyed the historic piano, which became a delicate intersection where the ceiling and a wall came together.
My mother, Peggy McCutcheon, played that Ellington piano every Sunday for 51 years. While the storm destroyed the piano and silenced her music for now, it won't silence the spirit of the congregation.
"We're just trying to keep doing what it is that we've done, only it's in a different way," said Bentonville Christian Church Minister Don Miller.
In the months following the storm, the church has been torn down. Wood planks have been salvaged for another project in Fayette County. The foundation and basement are all that remain, along with a mystery that's standing in the way of finally rebuilding.
"Now we've found out that in 1843 when the church began, the deed went to Bentonville Association, but nobody knows who the Bentonville Association is," Miller said.
No one in the community of roughly 75 people knows either. And no one is still around from that time.
Church leaders must now work with lawyers to cut through the red tape to determine the official ownership before starting over.
"The waiting is a difficult thing. Most of us thought it would be awhile, but we didn't think it would be quite as long as what it is," Miller said.
The congregation continued to meet every Sunday about a quarter of a mile away from the site of the church at the Bentonville Volunteer Fire Department until services were temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus.
Contributions may be made to Bentonville Christian Church, P. O. Box 22, Bentonville, IN 47322.