The past week at the church has been a wild one.
On Wednesday of last week during a storm, a tree fell onto the powerlines at the church and snapped an electric pole in half. It was an impressive thing to see (see photo below). We did not lose electricity and neither did our neighbors. But on Saturday a team from PECO deemed it an unsafe situation with the line on the ground so they shut down our electricity.
Saturday afternoon meant working with Ken Barber and Ya-jhu Yang for several hours to get the source of our livestream changed from the cameras in the sanctuary so we could do church from my home. They also got the music and liturgy working so our service was as seamless as possible. This team is amazing, and worship went very well. Technology is great until it isn’t. Or until its source of power is shut down.
Robert Maxwell, our Property Manager, worked with multiple companies over the weekend to get the new pole installed on Monday and we regained power on Tuesday evening after they replaced all the wiring to the new pole. We have opened an insurance claim and are hoping that covers most of the significant expenses we incurred in this mess.
It was after getting our power back that we discovered we had no phones or internet. The lines came down when the old pole was removed. Verizon came out and got those services restored on Wednesday. Jen Suit, Office Manager and Communications Coordinator, and Pam Kops, our Controller, handled this process. The GDC Preschool had to close for a few days and their teachers, staff, and especially the director, Melissa Whitman, kept the parents informed through her cell phone.
In the mist of all this chaos, our paver came to reseal and stripe the parking lot. They have a bit more to do to finish that project. It looks very good but added a lot of twists and turns to already confusing days. We were balancing multiple utility trucks and the need for empty lots at the same time.
It was indeed a crazy week. It felt like 5 days of total chaos. And it was one more time when our staff did a fabulous job handling swiftly changing and challenging realities so well. They checked in, kept their heads on straight, and spent extra time covering the church’s needs as technicians and contractors came and went.
We’ve all lived in a lot of chaos for the past year and a half. And we’re still standing. We have experienced swiftly changing realities that tested our mental, physical, and spiritual selves. And we’re still standing. We are facing some uncertain times with the Delta variant becoming more prominent. And we’ll keep standing.
Checking in with each other, keeping our heads on straight, and making sure we stay connected and safe will get us through anything in the future. Several times over the past week I have just thanked the Good Lord for the strength and faith of our GDC Family. I felt your prayers and knew you had our backs. So, know this … we’ve got your back, too.
God is seeing us through these continuing strange days. And God will continue to see us through the twists and turns that we have yet to face. And we’ll face these together.
I thank God for all of you. And I pray for these strange days to bring us closer to one another and to God. But I also pray that they end soon for all our sakes.
Grace and Peace –
PK
