UPDATE: May 9, 2021. See the picture above, all the repairs have not been completed, but enough has been done to get us back into the sanctuary. Elder Terry, Charlie and others are working hard to get the rest of the repairs complete as soon as possible.
Other repairs include fixing all the water damage on the walls, painting the walls (and ceiling), new carpet in the entire sanctuary, raising the ceiling fans, and a lot more.
Some of the repairs will be paid for by insurance and since those repairs are being done, the plan is to repair and update a lot of other issues the church has been dealing with for many years. So please don't forget to pray for the church and if you can, donate offerings to the church repairs.
God bless.
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UPDATE: March 10, 2021. This is the note that was in the church bulletin. "Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As you know, we suffered damage to the church from the snow storm. We are working with the Texas Conference and the insurance companies.
We hope to return to services in the main building soon. However, the main building has been in need of several upgrades. With the repairs that need to be done from the storm, we can do them now and save us money.
Repair and paint the ceiling
Repair and paint the walls
Replace the curtains
Re-carpet the whole building
At this time we are getting bids for the work needed. If you can think of other projects we need to address, please talk to Charlie Giner.
We will be asking for special donations from the church family to help offset these expenses.
Thank you and God Bless."
Check back here often for further updates. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the latest information.
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UPDATE: February 26, 2021. The water pipes have been fixed and the church now has running water and working bathrooms. There will be church services tomorrow (February 27, 2021) in the annex. We will try to go live to Facebook as well, but since we're in the annex, we can't promise that the video and audio will be all that great. So, my recommendation is that you come join us in the annex!
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There were several water pipe breaks in the church due to the freezing temperatures we've experienced this last week. About a third of the sanctuary was flooded.
Obviously, until further notice, church services at the church are canceled until the damages can be repaired. At this point there is no timeline or definite plan of action. The Pastor and Head Elder will be visiting the church to assess the damage today (February 19th) and they will be contacting the Conference about insurance options, discussing the repair plan, future plans, all available options, etc.
Once a course of action has been decided upon and work has begun, I will try to update this post as much as necessary to keep everyone updated on the progress. Most pictures and videos will be placed on our church website (baytownsda.net) in the Media Archive.
The option of conducting church services in the annex is not available to us right now due to several reasons. We have no running water until the pipe breaks and all other plumbing issues can be fixed first. We are also experiencing issues with the HVAC system so there is no heat (maybe no A/C when that is needed) in the sanctuary or in the annex right now.
Once we have running water in the annex the church could rent a couple port-a-potties but that option is up to the church leadership to decide whether that is a good course of action to get us back up and running.
Until the church is ready or another option is available, we will conduct services on Zoom and we will broadcast Zoom live to Facebook and YouTube.
Check back often, we'll update this post when new info is available.