WILMINGTON
FLOOD STORY
Here is an exciting update on our Sunday Kids Spaces!
THE FLOOD STORY
On Sunday, February 18th, around 2am, a pipe burst in our Wilmington Campus, causing significant damage to approximately 25,000 square feet of our building. All of our regular Children’s Ministry environments were affected, but the impact was felt across our entire church.
Here is a message from our Senior Pastor, Mike Ashcraft, giving an update on the extent of the water damage and an expected timeline of recovery and repair.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE DAMAGE:
REBUILDING
The floors, the lower part of the walls, and the cabinetry were ruined in our Children’s environments. By the end of February, all of the affected materials were removed, and the process of drying out the affected spaces was complete. The next step in the process was to put everything back together. We were given an early estimate this project would take 2-3 months to complete. Every week, we took steps to return our spaces to full capacity.
WORKING TOGETHER
Our staff and volunteers did an incredible job making our temporary Children's Ministry spaces a fun, friendly, and safe environment. Our contractors worked hard to help us progressively make more of our Children's Ministry spaces available until the entire construction was complete. We are so encouraged by how our church rallied together in this time, especially around our Children’s Ministry.
GOOD NEWS FOR EASTER!
One of our biggest concerns with the flooding in February was our upcoming Easter weekend gatherings. Easter is our largest gathering of the entire year, especially in our Children’s environments. We wanted to make sure that we could accommodate every family that joined us that weekend.
In preparation, we added two Saturday morning gatherings that would allow families to have the option of a familiar Port City gathering experience while additionally creating more capacity for the whole weekend. We asked our church to consider attending the Saturday morning gatherings to help us be prepared.
Working together with our Contractors and Kids' Ministry team, we strategically completed repairs on specific spaces, which allowed us to have additional room for more kids starting Easter weekend!
Over 2,000 people intentionally attended our Saturday morning gatherings to make space across our Easter weekend gatherings! Across five gatherings at our Wilmington campus, over 700 children got to learn about the resurrection in a fun, engaging way from our incredible staff and volunteers!
PORT CITY KIDS RETURNS HOME!
After 10 weeks of operating in temporary spaces, repairs are complete, and our Children’s Ministry environments are ready for us to return to our regular environments! We couldn’t be more excited!
THANK YOU!
So many of you have reached out with prayers and offers to help during this season. The flood significantly disrupted how we use our building throughout the week and how people move in, around, and out of our spaces. Thank you for paying close attention and working together as we rebuilt our Kids spaces. We know that these kinds of difficulties really bring out the best in our staff and in our church.
SUNDAY, MAY 5TH- WE’RE HOME!
After 10 weeks of operating in temporary spaces, repairs are complete, and our Children’s Ministry environments are open for us to return to our regular environments. We are so excited to be home!
Thank you to everyone who helped make these past two months possible! From the children who adapted so well to new spaces, to the parents who showed grace and patience throughout this transition, to the volunteers who went above and beyond to serve our children so well, even when it was extra challenging, and to all who prayed and supported us along the way to reach this point today—we are beyond grateful.
We are grateful to be in this together!
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