Quake spells end for 91-year-old building

DEREK FLYNN/FAIRFAX NZ

CHURCH SERVICE: Catholic priest Father Aidan Kay and deacon Richard Booker, outside the earthquake-damaged St Peter Chanel church in Ward, which is to be demolished.

The St Peter Chanel Catholic Church in Ward is scheduled to be demolished today.

Like St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Seddon, which was demolished on July 27, the Ward church was deemed unsafe after suffering earthquake damage last year.

Simcox Construction had been contracted to do the work, and project manager Paul Scott said the demolition would take about a day.

"We'll do the demolition work on Friday and cart the rubble away on Monday. They [church management] have already taken everything they want out of the church, and we will try to save the roof if we can, but we'll have to see how it goes," he said.

The small red-brick building is 91 years-old and was damaged in the 6.6 earthquake last August, which caused cracks in its tower and water damage from a broken cylinder.

The Catholic congregation has been worshipping at St Peter's Anglican Church since their church was declared unsafe.

- The Marlborough Express

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Church coming down

Construction of a multipurpose facility at Concordia Lutheran church and elementary school was 20 years in the making.

The new $2 million, 18,150-square-foot arena at 4245 Lake Ave. has come at a time when enrollment has grown along with church activities, said Michael Rosin, the schools principal.

We have an existing gym thats a little bit small, Rosin said. Its difficult to accommodate all of the sports teams we have. As a result, some of those practices for students in grades 5 through 8 have ended at 8 p.m. or later.

The new building will provide two additional gyms, one full-sized high school gym and another gym that can be divided into two middle school practice gyms. Play rehearsals may take place in the existing gym, Rosin said, but performances and other events such as outside speakers could see a crowd of up to 1,000 using a combination of bleachers and chairs.

The new stage is 40 feet across, whereas the existing one is 23 feet.

The space will also be used for contemporary worship services. The congregation is 2,000 strong.

Its great for the school and great for our future outreach for our community, said Brian Schlegel, who has three boys in the second, fifth and seventh grades at the school. Schlegel is a basketball coach there, and two years ago there were so many basketball teams that we had to rent space at Speice Fieldhouse.

The enrollment for K-8 grades has jumped from 320 to 368, much of that attributed to the states voucher system, Rosin said. About 180 students receive vouchers, half of which are church members, he said. Tuition of $4,600 a year is paid from 50 percent to 90 percent. The K-8 school could accommodate 450 students, up to 25 a class in kindergarten through eighth grades.

There are currently 415 enrolled at the school, including preschool children.

Church officials expect construction to be completed in May. They broke ground this month on the arena.

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Construction begins on Concordia arena

By Cynthia Bigrigg

Multimedia Journalist

The congregation will be singing praises from their pews by the end of 2015, when the newly rebuilt Grace United Church is set to be unveiled.

Members of the church board gathered on Tuesday afternoon to receive a $12,500 donation from Bexson Construction, which will help alleviate the cost of the $4 million project.

Were taking apart the old church and leaving our existing sanctuary standing, said Alison Weaver, president of the Grace United Church board.

The sanctuary was built in 61 and everything else was built previous to that, so thats whats coming down.

Out with the old means in with the new, and the plans for renovations include a new hall, kitchen, choir rooms, meeting rooms and offices. All of the amenities of the church will be on the same level, making the building accessible to everyone.

The demolition of the old church comes after maintenance issues became too much.

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Grace United Church to receive $4 million facelift

Two Christian congregations and at least 40 Allentown senior citizens were left without a place to gather after a Thursday afternoon fire ripped through the roof of the church where they assemble.

The three-alarm blaze began at 4:14 p.m. while workers were on the roof of the church at 631 E. Warrington Ave., city public safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said.

Ripley & Sons Construction workers hired by Hilltop United Methodist Church told the Rev. Sue Hutchins that something caught fire while they were working on the roof, she said. Pittsburgh fire Chief Darryl Jones said he had also heard that, but an investigation into the fires cause is ongoing.

Its pretty devastating, but God is bigger than any fire, said Rev. Hutchins, whose congregation, along with Redeemer On The Mount, and the Allentown Senior Citizen Center are housed in the church.

She said she was working in her house next door when she saw burning material falling from the roof. She then helped ensure that those in the senior center were moved to safety and that the roofers were OK.

A third alarm was called by 5:06 p.m. in deference to firefighters safety in Thursdays steamy weather, Ms. Toler said.

Chief Jones said fires in churches can be very difficult to extinguish because of the vaulted ceilings.

Firefighters removed items from the sanctuary that they believed to be of sentimental value to the congregations, such as plaques and items used in religious services, the chief said.

Its a small step, considering the amount of damage, he said.

No one was injured in the fire, Ms. Toler said. A roofer hyperventilated but declined care, she said.

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Fire rips church that was 'heartbeat' of city's Allentown section

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TURA: In another case of burglary from a Church, miscreants on Monday night broke into the Sacred Heart Church, one of the oldest Catholic Churches in Garo Hills, and made off with a considerable amount of money and also damaged sacred items of worship kept inside the Church.

According to the Sacred Heart Parish Priest, Fr. Theodore T Sangma, the miscreants first entered the store room of the Church and got hold of construction tools including a pick axe and a crowbar which they used to break open the main entrance of the Church.

The thieves then broke open the donation box to get at the cash and offerings kept inside.

The thieves also brought out the tabernacle containing sacred items of Catholic worship which they broke open desecrating the items inside.

A steel almirah containing amplifiers and microphones was also badly damaged when the thieves broke it open. However, nothing inside was taken. The total value of the damage to Church property has been estimated to be around Rs.1.5 lakh.

Meanwhile, the Sacred Heart Church Committee, the Parish priest and others concerned have condemned the incident in the strongest possible terms.

Desecrating the Holy Church and the Holy Articles of Faith has hurt the sentiments of the faithful of this Parish Church community. It is wrong to steal; however desecrating sacred items is a senseless act which is unpardonable, said Fr. Sangma. It may be reminded that earlier the Tura Baptist Church was also burglarized in the same way in which miscreants also damaged several items inside the Church. In that incident the culprits had made off with cash amounting to several thousand rupees which was kept inside the Church.

The Hawakhana Baptist Church and the Goanang Baptist Church have also fallen prey to thieves and were broken into not too long ago and just weeks apart from each other.

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Burglars break into church in Tura

Man dead in Wilkes Co. construction accident

A man was killed in an accident involving construction equipment at a Wilkes County church Tuesday morning.

David Alcon, 37, of Elon, died in the accident around 11:15 a.m. at Pine View Baptist Church on Sparta Road, also known as Highway 18, north of North Wilkesboro. Another man suffered minor bruises.

Witnesses told WXII's David Jeannot that a heavy machine overturned over after a wall next to the basement gave way. Alcon was standing beside the machine at the time, and the machine operator ended up pinned inside, witnesses said. | Mobile users, tap here to watch David's report.

The machine was being used to redo the pavement at the church. A crane was brought in to try to upright the machine.

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Man killed in construction accident at Wilkes Co. church

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Nearly three weeks after the collapse of the Rio De Agua Viva Church, heavy construction surrounds the scene. We last heard the city and structural engineers were working together trying to salvage whats left of the building. Turns out that wasnt in the cards, and the church will be torn down.

Its sad. This building, for a lot of people, its very emotional, saidHerminio Leal, who has been the pastor of the Rio De Agua Viva for the last 14 years.

Leal saidhe received notice at the beginning of this week that his church is going to be razed.

We expected that, Leal said.

The 80-year-old church collapsed about three weeks ago with children inside due to extensive water damage. The building contractor says the building is beyond repair.

There was enough damage to the building and it was not sustainable to be able to repair it, saidChristopher Perez, with CATCO Restoration Company.

Structural engineers inspected the building for the past few weeks, and the churchs insurance company ultimately decided to tear it down. Workers are nowwaiting on a permit from the city.

As soon as we get it and given the green light, well get things kind of picked up. We have to do a number of things right now, but until we can actually bring it to the ground, we need the last final piece of the puzzle from the city, added Perez.

Crews spent the day staging equipment to get everything ready to knock the church down.

Right now were doing some hand demolitions, taking some stuff down on the north wall that we have to take down by hand because its so close to the other building, Perez said.By the end of the week, theres not going to be much left.

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Despite efforts to salvage partially collapsed church building, its set to be torn down

MUNCY A church in the Susquehanna Valley has reason to be excited about the future. The church in Muncy broke ground this past weekend to begin a $3 million expansion project. The increased space is to keep up with a growing congregation.

Its a wonderful space to do that, but it really is too small for what were trying to do, said Pastor Arlene Beechert.

She said the pews at the First United Methodist Church fill up with members on Sundays for service.

The second service is often pretty full, said Pastor Beechert.

Weve outgrown it and its just extremely exciting, said Dennis Hammond from Hughesville.

The pastor said some folks from Muncy call this the big church on the hill. With construction just beginning, the building will soon be even bigger.

The pastor said this project is more than just adding on a couple of extra rooms. They plan to double the size of the church building.

Raised in excess of $1 million in under four weeks, so, yes we were very pleased. You know youve got support when you do that, said Jim Mothersbaugh from Muncy

All donations came for church members. The $3 million addition, called the Celebration Center, will include a new kitchen, basketball court, six classrooms, and a bigger gathering area.

Were really anxious to see the dirt start flying and the building go up, said Mothersbaugh.

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Church Members Raise Millions for Addition

For the congregation at Harrison Bethel Baptist Church, the sounds of drills and hammers are as sweet as a church hymn.

Construction is finally underway on the sanctuary after the 2011 wildfire destroyed it.

"To see the walls come up, the excitement is just overwhelming," said Pastor Johnny Moore. "God is able to cause beauty out of ashes and certainly these walls are very beautiful."

A heavy reliance on fundraising and permit delays have prolonged the rebuild and the church still needs to raise at least $100,000 to complete construction, said Moore.

The congregation, which once met at Northeast 71st and St. Bernard, has relied on area churches and community spaces to worship.

Though, continuing their ministry without a permanent home has been tough, congregation leaders say the challenges strengthened their faith.

"This is just a building," said member Melissa Ward. "We, the people, are the church so we carry God's word in us."

For the last 3 years, seven simple words carried the congregation. The church marquee and its message - posted just days before the fire - was the only thing to survive the flames.

It reads "God will keep his promise. Trust Him."

"As the marquee says, 'God will keep his promise,'" said Moore. "I know it's been 3 years, but this [building] gives people a ray of hope that things can happen for them and for the community if we pull together, if we stay together."

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Marquee message carries Oklahoma City church through wildfire, rebuild delays