PENSACOLA, Fla. — After incurring millions of dollars in damages to nearly every facility on the church property as a result of Hurricane Sally’s landfall in 2020, East Brent Baptist Church moved back into its worship center in 2022, only to experience tremendous water damage totaling more than $1.3 million just two years later.
Just two years after Sally, significant thunderstorms moved through the area, bringing wind and rain that revealed faulty tarps installed by the roofing company that was tasked with replacing the roof damaged by the hurricane.
It took two more years and mediation to resolve the issue with the roofing company. During that time, the church mitigated water damage and held services in an older auditorium on campus. Church leaders and members saw God provide exactly what was needed with utilizing every available building and classroom on campus for small groups to meet.
“We have an incredible staff who is not afraid of getting their hands dirty, and we could not have pulled this off without their servant leadership,” said Senior Pastor Wade Rials.
The storm raged on as East Brent Baptist Church had two insurance claims ongoing for more than four years; yet, the church refused to go into debt as it worked to resolve and repair. Staff members rolled up their sleeves to build the stage and pulpit and stain the pews for the new worship center.
“We still grew,” said Executive Pastor Nathan Witter. “Many people joined the church, and more came to trust Christ and were baptized — all while meeting in our old auditorium with partial ceiling boards and a concrete floor.
“Waiting was the hardest part,” Witter said. What they hoped would take a few months to resolve took many years.
“Four years for the hurricane insurance claim and two years for the water intrusion negligence claim were hard on us, and we had to scale back the original renovation project based on the actual money that we received from insurance,” Witter added.
Two houses on the church campus were torn down because damage was too costly to repair. A parcel of land with an older chapel, also too costly to repair, is for sale as the church no longer needs the space.
The new worship center seats 700 and has the latest audio and visual technology. The building also has space for preschool and children’s ministries with secure access. Senior adult classes and women’s classes have all been moved back into the worship center building. A new parking lot for senior members has been created with a ramp to assist those who require mobility assistance. The new entrance leads directly into the classroom area.
“Our congregation showed incredible resilience through it all,” said Rials. The church celebrated its new facilities with a chili cookoff the evening of its first service in the renovated worship center.
A phase 2 project that includes plans to complete Sunday school classroom renovations and create larger meeting rooms is in the works as the church prepares for “The Next 75.”
“We started this project during our 75th year,” Rials said, “and this entire process has allowed us to reset and prepare these facilities to be used for the next generation.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE — This article originally appeared at flbaptist.org.)
