Busy week!
It’s been quite a week at Wright’s Chapel! After a very cold spell here in VA, it has made it a challenging week. Sunday morning Charles called me around 7am to say the heat wasn’t working in the sanctuary. The temperature outside at that point was -2 and inside the sanctuary was 45. Charles said the fellowship hall heat was working so we would need to move worship into that space. So I headed up to the church and moved the computer and all the other equipment into the fellowship hall to be ready for the 8:30 service.
Monday morning, Charles calls me around 8:30am and tells me that a pipe had frozen and burst in Cindy’s Closet, our thrift store that operates to support the ministries of the church. We met our volunteers, that run the ministry, at the store to asses the damage. The entire store was flooded and part of the ceiling had fallen in. So we quickly talked about what we needed to do to save what we could, where we were going to store that, and how we were going to get it out of the building. I talked with the insurance company about what would be covered and took pictures to document everything.
I have decided to no longer answer the phone when Charles calls!
But even through this, I have seen the best of our church. On Sunday, people pitched in to help move chairs, coffee, tables, and greeters met people at the doors to notify them of the change. No one complained about the move. In fact as cold as it was outside, and even though our parking lot was still covered in snow, people showed up for worship. There was a general feeling among everyone that they would do what was necessary so that everyone could still enjoy worship.
Shortly after we saw the damage to Cindy’s closet, we posted on our Facebook page that we needed help moving stuff. Within minutes people started showing up. Over 25 people came, and within 3 hours, the entire store was cleaned out and the things we could save were stored in a storage unit. It was cold outside and wet and dirty work, but again there was a general feeling among everyone that they would do what was necessary to help this ministry that is so important to our church and the community. The store will have to be closed for about a month but will survive because everyone pitched in. If you would like to further support Cindy’s Closet come out the clearance sale on Saturday the 13th from 8-1 at the church!
I think it’s true that you see the real character of a group of people during times of need. This week has been a time of need at Wright’s Chapel, and the church has stepped up to help in many ways. This is one of the many things I love about this church! Thank you for your support! By the way, the heat got fixed at church so we hope you will join us on Saturday for the sale and on Sunday for worship!
