‘We are a people – not a building. We will not stop praising our God.’
Texas church refuses to let destructive storm stop its mission
By Jason P. Reagan, The Layman, June 28, 2012
Its roof may have collapsed, but a Texas church is standing firm after a lightning strike decimated its main building.
On June 6, lightning struck Theatre 166, the main worship center for Crosspointe Church, a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Carrollton, Texas.
Damage from the storm caused the theatre’s roof to collapse, resulting in major structural damage and flooding. Despite the damage, which engineers say will take months to rebuild, the faith community is undaunted and met in a field next to the building the following Sunday.
“Immediately after this happened, people were on Facebook saying, ‘My church just got struck by lightning,’” Crosspointe administrator David Knight told The Dallas Morning News.
“We were constantly saying, ‘No, your church didn’t get struck by anything. Your church is fine. The building got struck,’” he added.
“God was protecting us,” Pastor David Wahlstedt said, adding that the storm struck just after staff had left but before a local group was scheduled to meet at the building.
At the first outdoor service following the storm, bricks strewn across the property displayed messages of hope, scrawled in black marker, such as: “We are a people – not a building. We will not stop praising our God.”
Wahlstedt used the disaster as a preaching point, challenging his congregation with the question: “Is church a convenience or a commitment?”
Opened in 2010, Theatre 166 is named after the fact that there are 168 hours in a week. Crosspointe uses the building for two hours for weekly worship, opening the high-tech theatre up for the community to use during the rest of the week.
Groups ranging from a Girl Scout troop to a magic club used the building, allowing the church to have an active ministry presence in the local community among dozens of groups.
The church presented a video at the EPC’s General Assembly in Baton Rouge, La. last week.
Those wishing to donate to help rebuild the facility can give online at crosspointe.com or via mail at P.O. Box 118586, Carrollton, TX 75011.