Even though this church is across the street from ground zero, It is on the far side (closer to Broadway than to Church St). The towers were both closer to West St then they were to Church St, so there was some distance between the two areas that allowed this little church to survive.

The Church your post refers to is St. Paul’s church (At the upper left of the image). It is still standing because the north WTC tower fell in a different direction. The north tower fell to the west and slightly north. (See the buildings marked A, B & C in the Google Earth Image) that were damaged by the north tower. The church and most of the other buildings on the east side of Church Street were only superficially damaged (broken windows, and the like) by the “blast effect.” St. Paul’s church building was further protected by distance and probably by the short wall and iron bar fence that faces Chruch street. As you can see the main church building is actually located on Broadway and the “back yard” (cemetary) actually faced the WTC North Tower. You can see a larger version of the image at: http://curmudgeon.smugmug.com/gallery/404532/1/135027522/Original

You asked a question and I’ll try to answer. Despite the various religions and all, the church was saved for the main reason that it was a place of worship and also there had to be something for people to go to when this event occurred; and like the man that answered you first, I tend to feel that mainly it was saved by the simple grace of God.

It is still standing because it did not get hit. It is far from unique in this aspect. If you’re interested, you should check it out for yourself.

Of course this was a bit of a loaded question. The way it was asked suggests the answer that is desired by the questioner.

However, another valid answer to the way the question was asked would be “Because the terrorists didn’t realize it was there, since they surely wouldn’t have left it standing if they did.”

To me, this was almost a more important site than the WTC.

The most memorable thing I remember about my visit to the site was that inside the church is a display case of all the badges of emergency/police/firefighters who helped. There are listerally thousands of badges from all over the nation, and it brought tears to my eyes to see people from Texas, California, Maine, Florida, Nebraska, even international folks all coming together for one thing. It was absolutely beautiful.