Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Repairs completed at Calvary Fellowship Church
Some church activities were held offsite for more than a year until the repairs were finished
Pastor Lee Wiggins would advise you to focus on God during your hardships, the way his congregation did during the time the church required repairs because of a snowstorm last year.
Heavy snow on the roof of the Calvary Fellowship Church in Uwchlan Township caused about one third of the auditorium roof to collapse and that area of the church flooded. Wiggins moved his weekly sermons to the gymnasium while the auditorium was under repair. The repairs were finished in time for the congregation to return to the auditorium for this year’s Easter Sunday celebration. Wiggins said that tying in the resurrection of Christ and the church being repaired was a “real blessing.”
The first few weeks after the snowfall damaged the church in late January 2016 began as the clean-up phase that required cranes to pull the rubble out of the building. The next few months involved work by architects and bidding out the work which then began in summer 2016. Church events were held temporarily at other local churches and local schools for more than a year.
The insurance covered most of the costs, and Wiggins said that “so many people stepped up and gave of themselves” and offered help
from their businesses or gave financially. Church members and staff from nearby churches assisted to help Calvary with its church activities and it built a friendship between the churches to further care for the community members and their needs.
“There was such a good will with other churches and the community,” Wiggins said. “We saw the linking of arms with others in the community. We’re forever grateful for that help.”
The Downingtown Area School District also assisted and allowed the church to use its nearby school gym for church activities that had to be relocated because the church gymnasium was set up temporarily for Sunday mornings worship. He said they had always done projects to help with community needs and the community returned that help when needed.
“It was one of those things that encourages you to do more individually, as well as a group,” Wiggins said about how the damage impacted them.
He explained that people tend to stay in their comfort zones and become complacent, but good can come from hardships and this situation reminded them that there is more to life than oneself.
“We believe that difficult moments are actually used to bring about good things,” Wiggins said. “What happened changed us forever. It helped us to refocus on people, Jesus and the world around us.”
He said that “stuff happens in our life that is ugly, inconvenient or hard” and that as Christians they can focus on Jesus instead of life issues, which he said they saw that happening within the church following the roof collapse.
“When a group of people come together and rally together,” Wiggins said, “it’s powerful.”
Despite the changes and hardship, Wiggins noticed new faces during the Sunday worships and that attendance had increased during the “church crisis.” He said for various reasons caring people seemed drawn to attend the church and there was a new level of excitement for the congregation to become engaged within the church. He said perhaps people didn’t know how to find what they were looking for until that difficult time came in the church history.
“We can help each other through tough times and that’s a group that people want to be a part of,” Wiggins said.
Visit Daily Local News staff writer Ginger Rae Dunbar’s blog about journalism and volunteering as a firefighter at FirefighterGinger. blogspot.com.