March 23, 2025
PADUCAH, Ky. (KT) — After almost six years from the time its sanctuary was destroyed by a tornado, Mt. Zion Baptist Church moved into a rebuilt sanctuary on Jan. 19, 2025. Pastor Jason Medley said there were numerous times that God providentially worked to make the rebuilding occur, but the highlight was not construction-related.
Last March, on the five-year anniversary of the tornado, the church had a groundbreaking for its new sanctuary. In June 2024, construction began with a collaboration involving Chilton Baptist Builders and other volunteer groups.
Medley said that same week, a group from Alabama arrived to help, and in that contingent was a retired missionary from Yugoslavia who understood the Russian language as well as the culture and church situation in the country that is considered the largest in the world by landmass.
“They (the missionary and the Russian worker) ended up working side by side,” Medley said. “On the third day of building, Anton accepted Christ as his Savior, and on the fourth day we baptized him in our building. Our baptistry was not finished, but it was functional, and we were able to baptize him right there in the very church he was working to build.”
The words of a longtime church member stand out for Medley. “She had gone to church here as a kid, and it was a very dear place for her. But she said, ‘If God took away my sanctuary so that Anton would have to come here to build so he would get saved, then it was worth every bit of it.’”
Medley noted that there is a picture in the church foyer of Anton being baptized. “It reminds us of what God is up to — we’re not just building back a building. To me, that is the best part of the whole process — that reveals the most important part of what God has been doing here. We are so grateful that He has given us this building, but it is a tool for people to come to know Christ. That is the most important part.”
Medley, who will celebrate his third year as the church pastor in April, highlighted the numerous times that God providentially provided for the church in the rebuilding of the sanctuary.
“Chilton Baptist Builders, which is around Birmingham, Ala., became a part of this by a miracle of God,” Medley said. “I was having coffee one morning and a man walked by and saw my computer where I was working on church (matters) and asked if I was a pastor. He then asked if he could pray with me. He asked what is the biggest obstacle to the vision of the church being fulfilled.”
Medley gave a twofold reply. Repairing the gym was needed for community outreach and building back the sanctuary “for the purpose of healing hearts. The building was very dear to a lot of people — many were saved, baptized, and married there.”
Medley said the man “committed to pray for us. That same weekend, the man was on a hunting trip where he met the assistant director for Chilton Builders and they talked about the need we had.” But Chilton was booked up and couldn’t help in the near future.
On Monday, however, the summer work that Chilton was scheduled to do was canceled, and the Chilton director remembered the conversation about Mt. Zion. “They (Chilton) had 125 skilled builders — construction workers, electricians, engineers — already locked in for the date of June 11 (2024),” Medley said, noting this interaction occurred in late November 2023.
“We had no permits, no blueprints and the church hadn’t voted to build back. At that time, we didn’t think we could do anything until 2026, but we saw miracle after miracle. We had some experts in the construction industry say it would take six months to get permits, but we had them in two weeks. God was always showing up — it was not man’s efforts. We didn’t call and beg and plead with anyone. We walked in the guy in the permitting area told us what to do and said he could rush it through. We saw that moment after moment in this process.
“We hosted eight different teams of missionaries — we didn’t contact any of them. We would find ourselves where we didn’t know what we were going to do and God opened a door and sent the people to do it.”
The church moved back into the rebuilt sanctuary on Dec. 22, and then had the dedication service in January. On that day, it followed the normal schedule of a coffee and donuts fellowship, followed by Sunday school and worship. From the fellowship time until just before the worship service, there was an open house in the new building so people could tour the facility and hear stories about the “Miracle at Mt. Zion.”
___
This story first appeared in Kentucky Today.
