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By Peter Biggs
MORE THAN 40 people -- out of a crowd of about 1,200 -- were injured after the floor collapsed at Central Heights Church in Abbotsford, BC last Friday during a concert by the Winnipeg band Starfield.
A dramatic video of the incident on YouTube records lead singer Tim Neufeld urging the crowd to stop jumping up and down seconds before a large section of the floor about seven metres square collapsed, with concert goers dropping the three metres or so to the basement below.
A large boom with lighting and speakers fell over at the same time. Pictures show it narrowly missing the hole in the floor and thus not falling onto the people below. It was stopped by a wooden pew.
Most of the injuries were not serious, however two people were transferred to hospital in Vancouver. Pastor Chris Douglas told CTV on April 28 that a 41-year-old woman, who was one of those who plunged through the floor, is in a medically induced coma in Vancouver Hospital's intensive care unit, after receiving spinal cord surgery.
The hall can hold up to 1500 people and has hosted many such events in the past. Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the accident.
Kevin Pollard, music critic for BC Christian News, was at the Abbotsford concert. "I was up in the balcony area, and noticed in Starfield's first song that the projected images were bouncing," he said.
"The projector, along with lights and some speakers, were mounted on a truss that was free standing with tripods on each side. The kids weren't really jumping that much, then all of a sudden -- almost like in slow motion -- the structure started to fall towards the crowd.
"When the structure landed some even held up the weight to enable people to get out from under it before they would have been trapped," he added.
Starfield cancelled the following evening's concert, which would have been held at Burnaby's Willingdon Church, as well as a concert in Red Deer that was scheduled for April 28, but they did play Kelowna April 27, as the concert there was part of a unique city wide event that was sponsored by several churches and intended to attract the non-churched.
Wayne Alguire, senior pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna, told CC.com the band "had the blessing of the church in Abbotsford and felt a release to come, but they were in a very tender place."
The approximately 2,000 youth who attended the event in Kelowna were very impacted, said Alguire. "There was no 'altar call,' but when asked to stand for prayer, numbers did and had those around them pray for them," he said.
Pollard recalled talking to the band before their tour, when they informed him of their desire to bring extra equipment for a more adventurous multi-media experience as part of their 18 dates across Canada. This tour will be followed by further dates in the US and a European tour that will keep them on the road until August.
Prior to the Abbotsford concert, Starfield lead singer Tim Neufeld told CC.com Starfield was not about entertainment and was uncompromising in its emphasis on worship.
"There is an intention to just do what we do and trust that the people will be moved by the Holy Spirit," he said. "We believe that he will lead them to a place of brutal honesty before God -- brutal because it's a hard thing to be vulnerable and allow the Holy Spirit to do surgery if needed in our lives."
Along with God wanting to see God work within people, Neufeld said he believes there is a 'coming out' of Christians in becoming aware of their indifference to the rest of the world. "The majority of the world live on less than a dollar a day," he said. "Thirty thousand kids die of preventable causes like starvation every day. We have to be shaken."
Some concerts encourage World Vision sponsorship of kids, others have prayer teams. The tour partners include the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association with Will Graham speaking.
With the immense challenges around musical success and accolades Neufeld said he tried to remain humble. "We are living a dream, it is exactly what I want to do, I feel very privileged -- humbled. It sometimes feels like a fantasy life for any person involved in creativity," he said.
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Speaking to Pollard earlier this year, Neufeld described the theme of several songs off the album as a prayer to Christ: "We ask you to purify your church -- and let us be worthy to be sent out."
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Witnesses say excited rock fans were urged to stop jumping up and down in a B.C. church before a large section of the floor collapsed and the lighting system fell from the ceiling. More than 40 people were injured at a concert at Abbotsford's Central Heights Church Friday night when the floor gave way.
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