A giant crane swings its scoop from east to west and its operator picked up the bricks, wood and support structures that once formed the sanctuary of 701 First Street, St. Peter MB Church.
Pastor Billy D. Robinson and his wife, Evelyn looked as the debris was being removed from the structure that spontaneously collapsed almost two years ago to the day (March 23, 2025).
“Not much has happened since then,” Pastor Robinson said. To put the preacher’s statement in context, he is referring to the fact that during his 33 year tenure as pastor, the church faithfully paid more than $7,000 a year in insurance premiums. But, when the structure collapsed, Travelers, the church’s carrier refused to cover the damage.
Robinson and the members of the church have not had much progress in the way of getting the insurance company to pony up over the last two years. However, plenty has happened.
First, by virtue of the heavy equipment being on site, the church is complying with the City of Leland’s mandate to remove the debris. Perhaps, more importantly, “A lawyer out of Cleveland has agreed to take our case,” he said.
The church has taken several steps to prompt the insurance carrier to pay including filing claims, direct communication and reporting the case to the Mississippi insurance Commission.
“What is the purpose of insurance if they are not going to pay,” said Evelyn Robinson. “We thought we had done everything right and the insurance company tells us that the building wasn’t built properly. The building was built in 1972 long before we got here.”
In addition Travelers also cited that the church had not received proper engineering inspections over the course of its existence. “But why would they still accept the premiums if that was the case,” she retorted.
Silver linings in this experience include a file cabinet with important church documents being recovered and no one being harmed or injured in the collapse. There was no one in the church at the time, but just before the collapse, the Robinsons were on their way to the church to meet their son who was traveling from Boyle to get a copier. “By the time he made it to Elizabeth, I said, ‘you don’t have to be in a hurry,” Evelyn said. “The church is collapsing and by the time he made it into Leland, the entire building had fallen to the ground.”
The plan is to rebuild the church but the church’s mementos, photos and irreplaceable keepsakes are lost forever. Since the collapse, members have been worshipping at Mt. Ararat, a Greenville Church Robinson has been pastoring for many years also.
Perhaps this experience will end positively for the leadership and membership of the church and produce an applicable life lesson easily found in Scripture such as faithfulness, keeping one’s word, trust and patience to name a few.
“Things are moving in slow motion,” Pastor Robinson said. “And it takes a lot of money.”
