The report below is from Bill Gardner, interim pastor at Cedar
Christian Church in Cedar Rapids. (For some of you who have received
the link to the pictures of the damage of the church, below is the
corrected link.)
Please continue to keep these folks in your thoughts and prayers.
Their's will be a journey of faith, to be sure. May God continue to
richly bless all of us, especially those who have suffered tragedy and
devastation in their lives.
To the Christian C
hurch in the Upper Midwest,
At the Cluster 5 Pastors' Picnic held on Monday, June 16, atCenter Point, several of those present wanted to know the assessment ofdamage at Cedar Christian. At that time we had not entered thebuilding. Since then I have been in the building and this is my assessment, which is general and in no way a cost assessment or professional.
Christian Church in Cedar Rapids. (For some of you who have received
the link to the pictures of the damage of the church, below is the
corrected link.)
Please continue to keep these folks in your thoughts and prayers.
Their's will be a journey of faith, to be sure. May God continue to
richly bless all of us, especially those who have suffered tragedy and
devastation in their lives.
To the Christian C
hurch in the Upper Midwest,At the Cluster 5 Pastors' Picnic held on Monday, June 16, atCenter Point, several of those present wanted to know the assessment ofdamage at Cedar Christian. At that time we had not entered thebuilding. Since then I have been in the building and this is my assessment, which is general and in no way a cost assessment or professional.
The flood of 2008 reached 7 feet high inside the Cedar ChristianChurch educational building. This meant it covered virtually everythingon the first floor: furnaces, water heater, copiers, 3 computers,printers, all file cabinets, all furniture in 3 offices, book cases, 3metal desks, carpeting - including stairways to the second floor, allair conditioning motors, walls and woodwork.
The sanctuary basement (fellowship hall) was flooded to groundlevel and plaster, ceiling, and ducts are down. The flood water hasdrained and it is no longer flooded. All furnaces, water heaters,stoves and refrigerators were also flooded. Many lower windows werebroken under the weight. All pans, dishes,
etc. are covered with dirt.Cabinets are damaged. It should be added that river mud and sewage wasinside, as well as outside, the buildings. The sanctuary carpet at thefront was covered with about 9 inches of water, as were the first fewrows of pews. The floor is uneven.
The sanctuary basement (fellowship hall) was flooded to groundlevel and plaster, ceiling, and ducts are down. The flood water hasdrained and it is no longer flooded. All furnaces, water heaters,stoves and refrigerators were also flooded. Many lower windows werebroken under the weight. All pans, dishes,
etc. are covered with dirt.Cabinets are damaged. It should be added that river mud and sewage wasinside, as well as outside, the buildings. The sanctuary carpet at thefront was covered with about 9 inches of water, as were the first fewrows of pews. The floor is uneven. We did not have flood insurance as we weren't in a flood plain.We are several blocks from the 500 year flood plain, besides. Also,FEMA funds are not available, except for loans. In addition, the churchhas 3 rental houses that will have to be dealt with, plus the Wee CareHouse is damaged. Crossroads Mission and preschool programs cannot continue, for now.
Some positives: We met that Sunday following the flood at FirstChristian Church of Cedar Rapids. Our secretary, Linda Jandik, has setup an office there. All church records that we can salvage from theflood will go there. The email to use for now is Pastor Fred's, as heis taking over July 1. His email address is:firstchristian@ispwest.com. First Christian's address is 840 ThirdAvenue SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403, c/o Linda Jandik (Cedar's secretary).
We have heard from a few former members who want to help.$1,000 has been received from Week of Compassion via Don Hiscox/RegionalOffice. Those members evacuated have, or will, receive a check fromWeek of Compassion.
Any written response would be a great boost for morale at Cedar!
Sincerely,
J. William (Bill) Gardner
P.S. Check website photos of damage at www.flickr.com/photos/CedarChristian
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