Churches take hit as quake shakes East Coast

From Belief Net-

Churches seemed to bear the brunt of Tuesday’s 5.8 earthquake on the East Coast.

Damage was reported to Washington, D.C.’s National Cathedral and St. Peter’s Catholic Church, historic St. Patrick’s Church near Baltimore, and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Culpepper, Va., close to the Mineral, Va., epicenter.

“The damage is severe and we have three buildings condemned,” said Culpeper County building inspector Bob Orr said. “St. Stephen’s has structural damage inside.”

Also closed to the public, he said, were Culpeper Christian Assembly and an Italian restaurant. At St. Stephen’s, Rector Michael Gray said he had not been allowed into the main sanctuary, which was built in 1821, to see the damage, but early assessments indicated it could be repaired.
“He said a structural engineer would offer his assessment Wednesday,” reported Rhonda Simmons, Steven Butler, Allison B. Champion and Jeff Say for the Culpepper Star-Exponent newspaper.

Gray said it’s not the building that makes the church.
“The people are the church,” Gray said. “We are doing fine – that’s the main thing.”

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