‘Good group of people’ restoring Conway church after lightning strike, pastor says

CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — A close-knit Conway church community is leaning on their faith and thanking first responders for saving their building after its steeple was destroyed by lightning.

“As soon as everybody started hearing about it, they were there. And everybody in the church has kicked in,” Stephen Hyman, pastor at White Savannah Original Free Will Baptist, said.

On Tuesday just before 7 p.m., Horry County Fire Rescue crews responded to the 4010 Highway 65 building after a neighbor reported its steeple had ignited following the lightning strike.

“When the neighbor first called me and they sent me a picture of the steeple, it was about halfway in flames,” Hyman said. By the time he got to the church, the fire was already out.

But that wasn’t the end. Firefighters needed to pry open part of the church’s ceiling to create ventilation.

Hyman said ceiling repairs are already nearly complete, thanks to some contractors inside his congregation stepping up to help. He said he’s waiting to hear back from an insurance company before moving forward with roof work and restoring the steeple.

Hyman said he pastors to a “good group of people,” who were ready to assist.

“We’ve had a lot of outside offers. But we have five general contractors in the church. Electricians. And we haven’t had to reach out to anyone,” he said. “We’ve been able to take care of everything ourselves so far.”

The entire congregation is eager to worship again under a fully restored roof.

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Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram , and read more of her work here .

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