On 23 June 2006, the roof of the Cedar Grove Methodist Protestant Church near Thornsby, Alabama, collapsed. The building was made without the assistance of a professional architect or construction crew.
Jennifer Crossley reports: "Despite recent declarations by various authorities that the cause of Cedar Grove Methodist Protestant Church's roof collapse was due to lack of an architect and not treating the building as a commercial building, Jeff Carroll, pastor of Cedar Grove Methodist Protestant Church, says the church is not a commercial building but a house of God. "It's a house, even if the state says its commercial," he said yesterday. [...] Carroll said the Cedar Grove designs were done by church members after looking at pictures on the Internet. Later, hand drawings were made, then printed out on a computer program and used as blueprints. [...] He believes the separation of church and state should apply to state intervention into church construction as well. "If (the government) really believes that, they should stay completely out of the church's business," Carroll said. "I believe it's more of the state's way of taking over Christian rights. I feel like we're losing our liberties and rights every day." [...] "We didn't know we had to have any commercial approval.""
Greg Garrison reports: " The church sat empty Thursday night, so no one was injured when an 80-foot span of roof fell on the seating area for up to 500 people. "Just imagine if somebody's in there when it fell in," said Kippy Tate, director of the Alabama Building Commission. "If it killed somebody, then it doesn't matter how much money they saved. There needs to be a value placed on building and design professionals." [...] "By law, church facilities have to have an architect do the design work," said Cynthia Gainey, executive director of the Alabama Board of Architecture. "There's no exception for churches; churches are very clearly delineated as requiring an architect." [...] State law requires a licensed architect to design a building meant for public assembly, said state Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Thompson. "They still fall under a state building code and under architectural law.""
So many questions... Does the separation of church and state mean anyone can do anything they want as long as they call it 'religious?' Why did God allow or cause this building to collapse, and subsequently get the members of the church in legal and financial trouble? Why didn't God give them the money to hire a real architect, or find a nice Christian architect that would work for free? Does the world need another church?
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