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CNN LIVE SATURDAY
Interview With Ronette Cheney
Aired July 5, 2003 - 14:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Members of a Baptist church in the town of Forest, Ohio say they received a sign from God at a service during a thunder storm this week. Church member Ronny Cheney says lightning hit the church with startling results. Cheney is with us now live on the phone from Ohio, to help explain what happened. Ronnie, thanks firstly for joining us. You kind of put this in context -- as I understand it, there was a visiting minister, an evangelist who was in basically the middle or in the sermon talking, and then asked for a sign from God. At that moment what happened?
RONETTE CHENEY, LIGHTNING WITNESS: Well, actually he didn't ask for a sign from God. The thunder just kind of started probably about 10 minutes after he had started his sermon, and he said thunder is like God's voice, so we were kind of like, oh, all right, and we were sitting in the church trying to concentrate. He was talking about repentance, and as the thunder got louder, he said OK, speak to me, God, speak to me, tell me what you want me to say. And boom, lightning struck the church and everything lit up.
CALLEBS: What was it like inside there at that moment? It must have been surreal. Was it frightening? Were people controlled?
CHENEY: He had a cordless microphone on, and the lightning strike was so strong -- the lightning (UNINTELLIGIBLE) up his cordless microphone, and it was kind of like a blue aura around him. Also the speakers had static come right out of them. In the back of the church, there was a sound system and it blew up. You could smell something burning, and we thought it was just the sound system behind us, and lo and behold, it was actually the steeple of the church where the lightning hit. It was on fire.
CALLEBS: Amazing. We aren't going to ask you to try and explain what all this means, but as I understand it, the service actually went on for some time before you realized?
CHENEY: Oh, it did. It did. Yes, like I said, we thought the smell that we smelled was the hot controls from the sound system, and lo and behold, about 20 minutes later some rain-drenched woman comes running in, says the church is on fire, you need to evacuate.
CALLEBS: Well, I guess there will be some clean livers in that community for some time to come. Ronnie Cheney.
CHENEY: Yes. Thank you.
CALLEBS: Thanks for joining us today, I appreciate it. CHENEY: Thank you.
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