“Light at the End of the Tunnel”
by Craig Gephart
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
On August 9, our building was damaged by the tornado that affected many in our community. In the days that followed, we were overwhelmed by the gracious support of our community and the faith of our church family as we navigated many unknowns! We were especially blessed by the opportunity to gather in worship together just two days after the storm.
While we still don’t know quite what the future holds as we recover and rebuild, we know that the Lord Almighty is with us! Stay tuned for updates we will share here, and please keep praying with us for wisdom in the decision-making of the coming days!
Storm Rebuild Fund
Those who wish to give a financial gift towards rebuilding can do so through our giving platform. Click on the button below and choose “Storm Rebuild” from the fund dropdown menu.
FAQs
There have been many offers of help, for which we are so grateful! We will share practical opportunities as they arise. Those who wish to give a financial gift towards rebuilding can do so through our giving platform by choosing “Storm Rebuild” from the fund menu.
Please also keep blessing the process with your prayers!
Since a large part of the roof was ripped off, the upstairs office area is unusable. While some items (records in filing cabinets, some personal and historical items) were salvaged by the group that arrived early on Friday morning, most things will need to be discarded. The flooding in the office caused further water damage in the children’s wing of the church, so those rooms are also unusable.
Thankfully, the sanctuary, prayer room, early childhood rooms, kitchen and youth/open area were unaffected! We will use all of the remaining space to the best of our ability until a temporary office and rebuild plan is established.
Cor Construction is working with us as we navigate the clean-up and rebuild plans in the wake of August’s tornado. They’ve demoed both the upstairs and CE areas, removed the asbestos upstairs, cleaned up all of the roof debris, and added a safety fence around the front and rear entrances to the church. All of the gas leaks in our system were repaired and heat was restored in the building.
The structural engineer report has been delivered, roof trusses have been ordered, and the work on the roof will begin sometime in February.
- The gas leaks have been fixed and Community Meals have resumed, meeting at 5:30pm each week!
- Kids Club meets at 6:30pm in the Youth and Open Areas.
- Youth Group has resumed and meets at HBIC at 6:15pm to travel together to an alternate location (will vary week-to-week, but will be local).
- ELL Classes (currently full, but contact the church to be put on our waitlist!) will meet at 6:30pm in the Sanctuary.
- Prayer meeting meets at 7pm on Zoom. The link will be included in our weekly emails (sign up here to receive them).
- Sunday School for kids in grades K-5 meets in both services before the sermon as usual, but classes will meet in the Youth and Open Areas.
- Since our preschool rooms are unusable, the early childhood rooms outside of the sanctuary will be separated as follows on Sunday mornings:
- Nursery – birth to 18 months
- 1 year old room – 18 months up to age 3
- 2 year old room – 3 and 4 year olds (Pre-K)
- The youth meet at 9am only in the blue garage across the street from the lobby for Sunday School.
Upstairs
Upstairs office area after emptying and demolition: back library
CE Area
CE Area during demolition
Upstairs
Upstairs office area after emptying and demolition: Pastor Hank's office