local church steeple hit by lightning

[mm]

A week or two ago, a church in Baltimore was hit by lightning and burned to shreds, other than the brick walls iiuc.

It turns out that they had remodeled the steeple within the past year.

It was the highest steeple in miles. It occurred to me that it would have had a lightning rod, even in Baltimore.

It also occurred to me that maybe the contractor didn't recognize a lightning rod when he saw one. Or disconnected it and forgot to reconnect it.

What do you think?

(Today I heard on the radio, quoting the newspaper, that the church was 12,000 dollars behind on the water bill and the mortgage was being foreclosed, but last year it bought the minister a 150,000 dollar Bentley. Maybe he tried to save money by hiring someone cheap? The church is insured for 4 million and that bill is paid.)

[JoeSpareBedroom]

When I was in the home audio biz, I had 3 customers who would pay list price on fancy audiophile gear, just to be the first on the block to own a particular thing. One was an orthopedic surgeon, another was a big shot at Kodak, and the third guy was a Catholic priest from a small town out in the sticks.

Religion's a great thing.

[Don Phillipson]

Well, what did he say when you asked him?

[Banty]

..that maybe Someone Up There had something to say about that Bentley??

Banty (Thor's angry enough for having been mixed up with Jesus for all these years....)

[Higgs Boson]

Care to say what religion/denomination that church was?

If there is a God, he/she/it must be snickering up a storm!

Whatta gig -- a $150,000 Bentley for preaching morality to suckers while not paying the water bill or the mortgage! Where can I score a deal like that?!

Higgs Boson

[mm]

And therefore moved it or removed it, I meant.

All of you seem a bit more intersted in the car than in the lightning rod, so I'll add another line. It turns out the minister didn't return a call placed yesterday placed to his home 25 plus miles from the church, a 3,800-square house built in 1997 and appraised for taxes at about $600,000.

[John Grabowski]

Most of the problems that I have seen in my lifetime from lightning strikes were as a result of not having a good ground connection. That's what ground rods are for.

I don't know if Bentleys are UL listed for lightning protection. :-)

[HeyBub]

When Franklin first proved the efficacy of his "lightning rod," many refused to erect them on churches, claiming to do so would interfer with the will of God.

The dilemma turned out to be self-correcting: God struck down the stupid churches.