CHURCH WALL CRASHES

Evening Star, Issue 20585, 10 September 1930, Page 9

CHURCH WALL CRASHES

ABRUPT END TO SERVICE ELIJAH AND THE THUNDER. Tho congregation at the Wesleyan Church, Headington, Oxford, had just started the singing of the second hymn at the morning service on Sunday, July 20, when there was a loud crack, and the wall behind tho pulpit collapsed. The preacher, Mr E. J. Smith, of Blaydon, the organist, and the choir scrambled to safety in tho nick of time. Tho service was brought to an end after the preacher had offered a prayer of thankfulness for the _ escape of tho congregation. It is believed that the fall was caused by excavations close to the wall. Mr A. Harris, one of the secretaries, said that the church, which has accommodation for about 200 people, is being replaced by a new building. He added that on the Sunday morning when he entered the chapel, ho noticed a crack in tho wall but did not think anything about it. “ We suddenly heard a crack” Mr Harris said. “ The preacher, the organist, and a mixed choir all hurried away from that end of the church, and L he wall came in with a crash. For a time it was impossible to see anything, but when the dust cleared away we saw tho ruined pulpit and organ and brickwork lying all over the choir seats. “ There was very little excitement, and the congregation, most of them women, showed remarkable coolness under an ordeal which was certainly not pleasant.” By a curious coincidence tho lesson for the day was the story of Elijah and the thunder in the mountains*