ST CHARLES, Mo. — Less than 24 hours after a pickup truck crashed through the wall of a St. Charles church, congregants still came together to worship, but the format of the service was starkly different. Along with three other churches, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Chapel worshippers held their 10 a.m. service on Zoom.
"We just want everyone to know that we're here and we're not going to be knocked down just because our building has been knocked down," the Rev. Claudia Hall of the Metro East Unitarian Universalist Congregation said. Hall is also a member of the Emerson community.
Following the virtual service, churchgoers met at the Painted Sky Creative Lounge in St. Charles for fellowship and to reflect after seeing the devastation for themselves.
Some of them who were in the church the night before the crash feel very lucky.
"A member and myself sat in a couple chairs there while they were doing the open mic (on Friday night)," Alvin Zamudio, the directing elder of Creative Society in St. Charles, said. "It was right in that spot the next day where the truck ended up literally right where we were. It was shocking and weird."
"In both congregations, we have a long history of working with people who have been through extensive trauma," Hall said. "It's not just that we're saying the church is the people, it's that we're really living it. This is not the first time we have shifted buildings. It's not the first time we have lost a building."
St Charles police said a 16-year-old driver crashed his pickup truck through the wall of the church on Saturday about 2 p.m.
Firefighters at the scene said the teen was most likely was trying to avoid a potential colission with another driver who cut him off near the intersection of Jefferson Street and North 5th Street, just south of the Emerson Unitarian Universalist Chapel and Community building.
Fortunately, no one was inside the church's community building at the time of the crash. Firefighters said the only injury was to the driver of the pickup truck. He was taken to St. Louis Children's Hospital and has since been released.
The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, police said, as church members once again ask themselves how they rebuild.
"We are a scrappy congregation," said church president P.J. Pyrchla. "We do know that we will recover. We need to just figure out what the next steps are."
The church is expected to continue clean up and potentially move its gatherings to a different location for the foreseeable future.
The church has established a GoFundMe crowdfunding page to aid in its rebuilding efforts.