James Spann, chief meteorologist for ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, preached the noon sermon at the Cathedral Church of the Advent on Maundy Thursday, drawing one of the largest crowds of the Lenten preaching series.

“The prayer is to go find somebody to bless, especially this weekend,” Spann said.

“This is Holy Week; this is Easter week,” Spann said. “Tomorrow’s Good Friday. We’re coming up on Easter Sunday.”

It’s a time to show love and share blessings, he said.

“This is the most special time of year for Christians,” Spann said. “We should show the love of God in a tangible way.”

Spann leads the weekly children’s worship service for 5 to 12-year-olds at Double Oak Mountain Community Church at the Mt. Laurel campus, but missed the service last weekend to attend a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Palm Sunday tornado.

The storm killed 20 people, including six children, and injured 70 at Goshen United Methodist Church in Piedmont.

The Rev. Kelly Clem, who was pastor at the time, survived the tornado, but one of her daughters, Hannah, 4, was killed. Clem returned to Piedmont this past Sunday to preach, and Spann said he wanted to echo her sermon.

“Kelly asked the church, ‘Where was God?’” Spann said. “The answers were incredible.”

He read a few.

“Someone carried me out of the sanctuary after it was destroyed. Someone stopped and cried with me. Someone rejoiced with me over every spared life. Someone cut up my food and fed me in the hospital. Someone washed the glass and debris out of my hair. Someone embraced me tenderly when my body was broken. Someone sent Easter baskets to every child at Goshen the following Sunday for Easter. Someone sent stained-glass windows.”

Spann covered the tornado as a weather event, and said it was the most traumatic event he has experienced.

“It was an unspeakable tragedy,” he said.

But God was there, in the expressions of those who helped and comforted the suffering, he said.

“My challenge is let God work through you,” Spann said.

“God was in the people who did these things,” Spann said. “God was there.”