Sun streamed through the stained-glass windows of Champion Christian Center in Canonsburg on Sunday morning as congregants filed in, pausing to share a word of comfort, an embrace, a hand on a shoulder.
The nondenominational church of some 700 members suffered a blow Friday evening when two of its members were killed in a two-vehicle crash in West Virginia that is believed to be the result of a mechanical malfunction, according to police.
A church van driven by Rhoda Malone, a mother of three, was southbound on Interstate 79 in West Virginia’s Harrison County when a box truck crossed the grassy median and struck the van. Mrs. Malone, a member of Champion Christian, was killed as were two teenage girls: Breanna Africa, 17, also a Champion member, and Faith Dowler, 16, a member of Central Assembly of God Church in nearby Houston.
Three other people in the van were injured: Logan Malone, Rhianna Browell, and McKenzie Molinaro. They were treated for minor abrasions and sent home, according to a note from the Champion Christian church to its congregants. The note is posted on the church’s Facebook page.
The accident happened as the group of students was headed to the “Festival of Life” event in Clarksburg, W.Va. Described as a contemporary open-air evangelistic crusade, the two-week festival began Sept. 4 in Clarksburg, hosted by four area churches. Jonathan Shuttlesworth, founder of Revival Today, leads the festival, which is known to attract hundreds.
Mrs. Malone was taking a group of youths to the event Friday evening.
A lieutenant with the Bridgeport City Police in Bridgeport, W.Va., said the accident happened at 6:16 p.m. Friday in the southbound lanes of Interstate 79 in Bridgeport, about 6 miles from the festival site. The West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner could not be reached for information on the causes and manners of the deaths.
Two people — both residents of Masontown, Fayette County — who were in the box truck were hurt, according to police. The lieutenant said the initial investigation indicates that the box truck had a vehicular malfunction that caused it to cross the median strip from the northbound lanes of the interstate.
The particulars of the accident weren’t being discussed at the Champion 9 a.m. church service Sunday. Rather, the capacity crowd at the house of worship along Belmont Avenue was surging with the sounds of song and praise.
“In the sun or rain, my life celebrates ’cause you are good. You are good,” they sang, even as tears streamed from the eyes of several in the sanctuary.
Pastor Nathan Miller, who founded the church along with his wife, Joie Miller, in 2009, referred to the “tragic news” that struck the community Friday night, but admonished members to remember that “there’s hope we find in God. Comfort we find in God.”
He acknowledged the heavy hearts of the church members.
“That’s natural … [but] this isn’t our final destination,” he said.
Then referencing the apostle Paul, he said, “We don’t grieve as though we have no hope. … Rhoda and Breanna are with the Lord.”
He said the common denominator among the three Washington County victims was “all of them, they loved the Lord so much … It was real …[and]
they loved people.”
The church is raising money to assist their members with burial costs and each victim has had a GoFundMe account created.
Karen Kane: kkane@post-gazette.com or at 724-772-9180.
First Published: September 12, 2016, 4:00 a.m.