Considering the Church Flood of 2011

The wrong pipe broke.  It was just one of those things you could not predict nor prevent.

The ceiling vomited on the kitchen.

Last week Tucson experienced some record-breaking cold.  I had a flashback to last winter in Winter Haven.  I was still at Ace and plumbing and irrigation parts were flying out faster than pizzas on Super Bowl day.  We had run out of heaters, and the supply in the entire SE was depleted.

So, as a result of the cold many people here had pipes freeze.  Some of those broke.  The cold also affected the natural gas supply.  So thousands in Tucson were without water, heat or both.  Here at the church we took precautions to prevent the pipes outside from freezing.  All was well when I left Thursday night (except my sermon that is).  I had Friday off.  Usually my administrative assistant is in on Fridays, but she had car trouble was planned on getting in on Saturday.

Notice the reflections in the standing water

I had just finished breakfast with the kids when the phone rang.  CavWife was at a Women’s Conference across town.  The church member who does our landscaping noticed condensation on the windows (a rarity in Tucson, people), and water running out of side doors.  He called his father, a deacon who called our other deacon.  Soon the water was turned off but the damage had obviously been done.  He reported to me there was about a half inch of standing water throughout the sanctuary.  What followed was a great exercise in teamwork.

While they stayed on site, I made calls to get men down to help get the water out of the building and begin the clean up.  With so many pipes broken throughout the city, the prospect of getting a restoration company and a plumber looked dim.  Our deacon, meeting overwhelmed restoration companies, called his neighbor who installed our new (gulp) carpet.  In 30 minutes, a restoration company was calling us.  The carpet guy knew the owner, and we benefited.

The men of the church began arriving (suddenly we were acting Amish, nothing like a flooded building to bring out either the best or the worst in a church).  By the time I arrived (after making phone calls I couldn’t delegate to CavWife and running an errand I couldn’t postpone on the way to the church) the sanctuary was emptied of furniture and the standing water was gone.  They were working on shop vacuuming the carpet.  I put my kids and dog into the play ground and tried to lend a hand despite being essentially useless.

Goodbye drywall!

Apparently the floor was not level, so the water moved to the south side of the building.  It didn’t reach the amps and keyboards.  The organ appeared to be on an island.  The offices, on the far side of the building, were untouched.  But the kitchen was a lost cause.  It will need to be remodeled (and there was great rejoicing!).  They removed the cabinets, which had some water damage.  Dry wall was removed on the outside walls of the kitchen in the lobby & sanctuary.  About a foot of drywall was removed from the south wall of the sanctuary, the “overflow” room and the bathrooms.  This makes the building unusable for public worship for the foreseeable future.  We may have to repaint the sanctuary and the bathrooms.  Or should I say, this may be an opportune time to change colors should we choose.

The wife and adult daughter of a deacon were working another angle.  In about 24 hours we were supposed to have a worship service.  Not in that building, despite my foolish hopes (even if the water was restored).  They had identified 3 possibilities for us to worship the next day.  First, the funeral home where the church used to meet before the building was completed.  Second, the local Christian high school where a sister congregation met.  Third, the Sylvan Learning Center where the daughter worked.

While the men continued to clear the kitchen of insulation and other items destroyed by the ceiling collapse the representative from the restoration company arrived and worked with one of our deacons to set up plans and a schedule.  We were not looking at just one week out of our facility, but at least 3.  A former member was also on site helping out.  He is the one who eventually repaired the pipe.  Those missionary guys, they are quite handy!

The Culprit

It was the hot water pipe that ran from the heater into the ceiling to the bathrooms.  Running a tap probably wouldn’t have mattered unless we also ran a hot tap.  It was all making sense.  Well, when you discount the fact that it was inside a heated building.

The elders and I met with the deacon to discuss options and get information.  One of the elders had been talking with the insurance company while the other helped with clearing the building.  Due to the overwhelming demand in our area, it would be over a week before the adjuster would be out to see our property.  No problem, our deacons had been taking pictures and video to capture the event in all its glory.

Soon I was off to see the Sylvan Learning Center to see if it would meet our needs.  This seemed better than making our crisis a crisis for a sister congregation.  It seemed like it would work on the fly.  And it did (a few kinks to get out for next week).  Trying to minimize trauma, we scaled things down: no SS, Children’s Church, and communion (maybe in a few weeks).  Worship will be different, but I’m sure we’ll get used to life without an organ (my organ-playing friends are now gasping in horror).

I worked with CavWife, who arrived after the conference (I wanted her to stay put to be edified) and our deacon’s wife to make sure we got the necessary information to everyone for the next day’s worship service.  We knew some people didn’t have or check their e-mail often.  We identified some people we probably had to call (one got 3 calls, we really wanted her to show up I guess).  The administrative assistant put a notice on the door, and I prepared an updated e-mail when I got home.  Just about everyone showed up, and we even had a visitor from Brazil in for the gem show find us.

In what could have been a horrible day, I saw more evidence that I am in the right place.  The men of the church rose to the occasion.  There was no bickering, no meltdowns.  Rather, people worked together at various tasks.  The Session quickly made decisions without fanfare or histrionics.  God’s grace was evident to me in many ways.  I still can’t believe all that was done in that afternoon, and that the worship service came together as well as it did.

While the flood is over, the restoration will take some time.  We see how it could have been worse, but by God’s mercy was not.  We will need patience for our return to the nomadic life of a church plant.  But unlike most church planters, I am not alone.  I’ve got a good Session and deacons on site to work with me as we seek to fulfill our mission: By the mercy of God’s grace and for His great glory, Desert Springs exists to worship our worthy God, grow in Gospel grace and extend Christ’s Kingdom in Tucson and beyond!