Lightning strikes steeple during wedding rehearsal
Jen McCoy / Daily Register
Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Highway 33 just outside Portage was struck by lightning Friday evening during heavy storms that came through Columbia County. There was no damage inside the church, but a small hole could be seen looking up through the steeple from inside.
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By Jen McCoy, Daily Register
Lightning splintered the steeple of Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Friday, which made for a close call for a wedding party rehearsing inside.
"Probably two minutes earlier, everyone said, 'We're good, let's not go through the rehearsal again.' You have to walk down the aisle (underneath the steeple overhead) and that could have been disastrous," said Nate Dekker, groom from Menomonee Falls. "It happened so fast because the lightning struck, and then a loud boom and you could smell the burning."
The lightning hit the church around 5:45 p.m.
Dekker and his fiancee Jen Hays of West Allis, chose the Portage church on Highway 33 because of the central location for both sides of their families.
"We found a church that fit well with what we were looking for, but it was more beautiful before tonight," Dekker said. "It's too bad for the church. We stayed there for another 20 minutes helping to get buckets to catch the water."
Pastor Brenda Ertl was running the rehearsal and said although heavy rain and dark skies outside were looming, they did not know about the severity of the weather, which included a tornado near Wyocena. There were 25 people in the wedding party, Ertl said.
"It was good timing, if there is such a thing, because we were away from the area. We heard a loud boom and the lights went out," Ertl said. "We went into the sanctuary, and wall board from the ceiling had come down and water was dripping."
Pink insulation dripped into a trash can inside the sanctuary from the absence of siding on the steeple. Outside, shingles were spread around the parking lot and the steeple looked like stacked wooden spears, but the cross at the top was unchanged.
"The fact that the cross is still there tells me there is more hope. There will be tough times in a marriage, but God will always be there for them," Ertl said.
Dekker did not want to read "too much" into the bad luck of the lightning strike the day before his wedding.
"There are ups and downs, and we will weather the storm. And at the end of the day, we're ready for tomorrow," Dekker said.
The ceremony will go on as planned this afternoon.
Pastor Dick Inglett, of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, arrived at his parish in a haze. Inglett had the flu and his birthday is today, so he did not have much energy to address the situation in words.
"Tell them that Pastor Dick was here and he was dazed," Inglett said.
Kyle Kjorlie, 14, lives near the church and walked over to view the damage. He had gotten out of Portage Junior High School early Friday because lightning struck a transporter near the building and he had a chance to see another building affected by lightning.
"I was happy to come home from school, and then this happened, now it kind of makes me feel like a bad luck charm," said Kjorlie, who also attends the church.
Austin Kjorlie, Kyle's brother, felt the church's loss.
"It was pretty sad because this is a really nice church," Austin, 10, said.
Standing in the sanctuary with Inglett, Austin looked up at him for reassurance.
"We'll have service on Sunday, right? We never cancel church," Austin said.
Inglett laughed.
"Austin is right. We never cancel church," Inglett said.
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