Sun colleague Joe Burris has a nice story on "the thunder that followed the lightning:" the joyful return of Bethel A.M.E. members to their historic church, two months after fire forced them to take up temporary quarters at Temple Oheb Shalom.

The Rev. Frank M. Reid III, Bethel's senior pastor, said he hopes the reopening serves as an inspiration to the city that one of its oldest churches has quickly rebounded.

"At the same time that people are being hit by economic lightning and fire, in less than two months our church, which suffered tremendous damage, is back in," said Reid, the longest-serving pastor (20 years) of a church that dates back to the late 1700s.

Reid marched in the middle of the processional, surrounded by parishioners who embraced and sang songs such as "This Is the Day That the Lord Has Made."

"It's a reminder to people," Reid said, "that no matter how bad a hit you take, when we turn to each other, instead of turning on each other, a bad situation can become a good one."