REYNOLDS, Ga. — 10 days after lightning destroyed their church building , the congregation of Free Run Missionary Baptist Church gathered on Sunday morning for worship.

Instead of sitting in wooden pews, they sat in plastic chairs on the grass. Instead of stained glass windows, blue skies stretched overhead.

The church, located at 485 Marshall Road in Taylor County, burned down Aug. 21 during a thunderstorm. Only brick walls remain standing where the sanctuary once welcomed worshippers for decades.

Pastor Alvin Turner discovered the devastating news the morning after the fire in the most unexpected way: while driving his school bus route.

"A parent walked to the bus and she asked me this question, 'Are you alright?'" Turner said. "And I like to be upbeat and I said, 'Oh yes, it is we

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