{"id":186,"date":"2018-08-29T20:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T20:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.1stpresbyteriandickinsontx.org\/?page_id=186"},"modified":"2018-08-29T20:04:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-29T20:04:13","slug":"harvey-survivors-the-building-is-not-the-church-we-are","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.1stpresbyteriandickinsontx.org\/?page_id=186","title":{"rendered":"Harvey Survivors: \u2018The building is not the church. We are.\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/a><\/p>\n

by Maggie Gordon, Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n

\"\"For years, when Rev. Kathy Sebring stood at the lectern, preparing to give her Sunday morning sermon, she\u2019d face rows and rows of pews. Some would be empty.<\/p>\n

The pews are gone. So are the floors they were bolted down into. And the walls? They\u2019re still just studs, as the church awaits FEMA funding to replace the drywall.<\/p>\n

A year ago this weekend, Sebring had to call off Sunday morning service for the first time in her memory, texting parishioners, telling them to stay home and stay safe, as Hurricane Harvey\u2019s wild and muddy waters rolled through the small town of Dickinson, inching up the exterior walls at the First Presbyterian Church of Dickinson, before flooding the church\u2019s interior.<\/p>\n

Stacks of bibles were flung out on the curb, among a slowly constructed high-rise of debris. The organ that had loomed large at the front of the church for decades was added to the heap. And the pews. The floors. At first glance, the lawn – where the congregation worshiped under tents for the first few weeks after the storm – looked like a receptacle for all the tattered pieces that come together to make a church.
\nExcept it wasn\u2019t. Not really.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast week, we read that Solomon was building a temple after his father died,\u201d Sebring said on Sunday morning, as a dozen parishioners – about a fifth of the church\u2019s total membership – sat listening intently. \u201cThe temple is mentioned in the scripture, but it\u2019s not around anymore.\u201d
\nShe paused for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, things happen to buildings,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we as a people of God are in a covenant relationship with God, and we need to be reminded, as we were a year ago, that we are the church. Not our building. We hope and pray we\u2019re going to be able to bring it back around. But the building is not the church. We are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out in the front row, LuAnn Ash sat listening intently. Ash was one of many members of this small congregation that had to evacuate her home during Harvey. She packed up her two cats and hitched a boat ride to safety, courtesy of a neighbor, who helped her find space in one local shelter, then another, where she stayed for a total of four days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis church has been so strong and steady through it all, even through all the damage we got,\u201d said Ash, who pitched in to help with the church\u2019s relief drives in the days and weeks following Harvey. It gave her something to do. Familiar faces to keep her world steady. A chance to stand near the large stained-glass cross at the very front of the church – the decorative beacon that first drew her to First Presbyterian. \u201cI can\u2019t tell you what this church means to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few months ago, she attended a funeral service at a church in Texas City.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t realize how much we missed things like soap in the bathroom and a mirror until then,\u201d she said, laughing. There is soap in the bathroom at First Presbyterian now, and working toilets again – finally. \u201cIt makes you think: It might have been pretty there, but this is home.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a home that Dian Groh has considered leaving more than once in the dozen years since she joined the church. Somehow, the gravitational pull of the church\u2019s community always brings her back though.
\n\u201cI feel like God is here,\u201d she said, tearing up. \u201cI\u2019ve tried to leave this church. But I can\u2019t. I go to other churches with my daughter, and it just doesn\u2019t feel the same. So here I am. Bare walls, doesn\u2019t matter. It doesn\u2019t feel any different here – it just looks different.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Groh lost everything in her one-story home not far from the church, it was the members of her church who rallied together to pitch in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarvey was a tragedy in some ways, but also a blessing. So many helped, it was just amazing,\u201d she said.
\nEven in the midst of such chaos, she saw light. And never once felt alone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source by Maggie Gordon, Houston Chronicle For years, when Rev. Kathy Sebring stood at the lectern, preparing to give her Sunday morning sermon, she’d face rows and rows of pews. Some would be empty. The pews are gone. So are …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.1stpresbyteriandickinsontx.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/186"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.1stpresbyteriandickinsontx.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.1stpresbyteriandickinsontx.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.1stpresbyteriandickinsontx.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.1stpresbyteriandickinsontx.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.1stpresbyteriandickinsontx.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.1stpresbyteriandickinsontx.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}