Roser Memorial congregation took inspiration from battered cross

Members of Roser Memorial Community Church have been marveling about the lighted cross atop the steeple of the historic 104-year-old chapel at 512 Pine Ave.

Even though Hurricane Irma, with its 92 mph gusts, blew over the lighted cross, the light kept on burning into the night until most of the lights on the island were extinguished by the storm.

It was an inspiring sight, and members have been praising God for protection from the storm, that damage wasn’t worse, and that the congregation lost no lives.

“Altogether, we had about $6,000 of damage, which is pretty minimal considering how bad it could have been,” said Rev. Dr. Bob O’Keef.

In a few weeks, the lighted cross is expected to be reinstalled over the chapel — as soon as new mounting brackets are fabricated.

The church’s congregation is drawn 50-50 from Anna Maria Island and the Bradenton mainland.

On Sunday, Sept. 17, a week after Irma hit Manatee County, Roser resumed worship at the church, even though many members were still without power or had not filtered back to the Bradenton area after evacuating.

“I was talking about grace and what a special gift it is. About our need to exercise grace for those who were severely damaged,” O’Keef said.

“Certainly, the people in Key West prayed just has hard as the people in Bradenton,” he said. “Our purpose is to be the light for those who received a great deal more darkness than we did. By sharing care, compassion and love, an outpouring of gifts, not only for Roser but for all over the country.”

Roser has a team of workers it would like to send to help in South Florida, but that area has already experienced an overwhelming influx of volunteer helpers, he said.

“There are a lot of good people in the world,” he said.

Attendance at Roser was a little low the first Sunday after Irma, but rebounded the second Sunday, filling the sanctuary of about 400 seats.

Hurricane Irma and a passage from the Bible, John 1:9, inspired O’Keef to write a poem titled “The Storm Will Not Defeat the Light.”

“The idea of the poem came to me right away. The first chapter of John talks about how the light has come into the world. It’s a message we need to hear over and over again. There is a lot of darkness in the world, but the light of God’s grace is still with us,” O’Keef said.

Cyndy Custis, who has been a member of Roser Memorial Community Church for 17 years, and church secretary for 12 years, took the long view.

“The chapel has been there more than 100 years. In that 100 years, there have been many storms,” Custis said.

Even so, Custis decided it was prudent to evacuate to Tennessee to get out of Irma’s way.

“There was a lot of praying in that car,” she said.

This story was originally published September 30, 2017 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Roser Memorial congregation took inspiration from battered cross."