Rev. Jimmy Ingram, right, of Mount Peria Baptist Church, greets Pastor Don Rackley, of Concord Baptist Church in Temple, Ga., on March 31 at a groundbreaking ceremony marking the rebuilding of the Mount Peria sanctuary. The church was destroyed during the tornados that tore through the area on April 27, 2011.RINGGOLD, Ga. – The crowd continued to grow until the parking lot swelled with black and white faces gathered the week before Easter.
They came to witness the moment when Mount Peria Missionary Baptist Church members would dedicate to God the place where their new building would stand. They came to celebrate.
It had been nearly a year since 250-mph winds bore down on Ringgold, eating everything in their path and leaving frightened residents with little to cling to but prayer and each other. In the Ringgold area, eight people died.
The black community around Mount Peria had been in the middle of the tornado’s path the night of April 27, 2011, the church walls crumbling under its power.
Now, Mount Peria members had rebuilt their homes and finally collected the insurance money and donations needed to rebuild their church – a $1 million project.