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After devastating straight-line winds and a tornado tore through Calera on the night of March 15, members of Collectivus Church were out in the community assisting on Sunday, March 16. (Reporter photos/Noah Wortham)

Photos For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor 

CALERA – When Collectivus Church Lead Pastor Ben Nelson saw the damage inflicted upon Calera by the storms on Saturday, March 15, he immediately knew how to respond. He picked up his phone and talked with church leaders and notified members that services would be canceled on Sunday in exchange for getting out in the community and lending a helping hand to others.

“Our main role is to serve more than anything else,” Nelson said. “So, when tornados ended up coming through, it was an easy answer for us. We knew that we would mobilize on Sunday morning.”

After devastating straight-line winds and a tornado tore through Calera on the night of March 15, members of Collectivus Church were out in the community lending a helping hand to their neighbors and friends.

“Our church’s heart is not about gathering as much as it is scattering into the community,” Nelson said.

After giving updates and a brief prayer at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 16, members of Collectivus Church mobilized and traveled across the city to help with debris cleanup. Other members stayed behind at the church building on Main Street to help strategize and coordinate cleanup efforts with meetings at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

“We are always here for anyone that needs help,” Nelson said. “Anybody who needs help, needs assistance, not just today… but in the weeks and months to come. We’re here for that.”

On Sunday morning, more than 100 Collectivus Church members and community volunteers were out across the city helping those who affected by the storms. The church saw members helping out with damaged mobile homes and businesses on 14th Street, from Fourth Ave. to Eighth Ave. Members also aided in the cleanup of the Calera Baptist Church which had its roof cave in.

By midday, the church saw a significant portion of the debris cleared up and had begun serving and distributing free lunch to all affected by the storms with a station set up at the mobile home park near Grace Community Chapel.

“We’re just here to serve,” Nelson said. “We’re thankful to do it,”

Collectivus Church has also become an unofficial drop off spot in Calera to help provide aid to victims.

“We are very closely connected throughout the city with city officials, along with the fire department and police department,” Nelson said. “Any donations that come by the church, we will make sure they get into the hands and the places they need to be.”

Nelson said the overall public response to the devastation has taken him by surprise and stands as a uniting force that ultimately displays the good in the hearts of others.

“I knew how our church would respond because that’s just who our church is, but I’ve really been taken aback by the community that doesn’t go to church here, showing up and saying,’ How can we serve?’” Nelson said. ”That’s just been incredible…. In a world right now where a lot of the time it feels like it’s us versus other people, it reminds us that we’re all part of the same body and the same humanity.”

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