Roswell Church of Christ continues its ministry after last week's storm damaged its KCK sanctuary.

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A storm last week brought down part of the Roswell Church of Christ's sanctuary in Kansas City, Kansas. But for its members, the damage to the building has not stopped their ministry.

"You look at a place where you have come to worship for years, and now it's there no more. It's torn apart," Stanley Addison, a church member, told KSHB 41 News reporter Fernanda Silva.

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Kelvin Burns, another church member, described the moment he took in the destruction.

"It was a sudden, just loss feeling," Burns said.

Despite the loss, members say their church is still standing.

"We got knocked down, but we didn't get knocked out. We're stronger than the storm," Addison said.

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With no building to walk into, the congregation brought their ministry outside Wednesday night. During a prayer held amid the damage, one voice captured the congregation's resolve.

"We look around and we see the damage that has been done to the building. Well, Father, the church continues to go," a church member prayed.

Minister Artrell Harris leaned on scripture to frame the moment for his congregation.

"Where two or three are gathered in my name, there he is in the midst of them," Harris said.

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Harris said the storm has forced the church to reckon with what it truly is.

"Our ministry is not just tied into a building. We are the church," Harris said.

He acknowledged the road ahead is uncertain, but said faith is what keeps the congregation moving forward.

"Even in the roughest, darkest times, you're still able to say, hey, we're going to keep going," Harris said.

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Harris said the storm's impact reached beyond the building itself.

Community members had food spoil in their refrigerators and freezers, and some had their cars destroyed.

"The Bible says faith without works is dead. So we got to live it," Harris said.

Community member Selena Overton-Gant said the congregation wasted no time putting that belief into action.

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"Everybody just got up and got busy," Overton-Gant said.

She said the experience has reinforced what the church truly represents.

"Jesus is where we come to worship and gather. This is wherever we are because we are the church. This is the building that we serve in, but we are the workers. We are the hands. We are the feet for Jesus," Overton-Gant said.

Harris said the building's future remains unclear.

"The way this building looks now and the damages that it has sustained, we won't be back in this building in the near foreseeable future," Harris said.

Still, he said the congregation is approaching the situation with both faith and a plan.

"You can grieve, but you gotta say, hey, here's a strategic plan," Harris said. "The building is what it is, but God can do something bigger with this."

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Addison echoed that sentiment.

"This building, if it doesn't get repaired, we will still be the church," Addison said.

Burns said the experience has brought the congregation's purpose into focus.

"The building just holds the workers, you know," Burns said. "We're here. We're alive."

The congregation will hold worship this Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, at Carl Bruce Middle School, 2100 N. 18th St., Kansas City, Kansas.

Services begin at 10:30 a.m. A church meeting will follow worship to provide updates and answer questions related to the storm.

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