Life carries on for a south Lincoln church after a rogue bolt of lightning set the roof ablaze last weekend, forcing New Covenant Community Church Pastor Brent Watson to move Sunday service to the pavement.
Just before 3 a.m. on Saturday, May 4, Lincoln Fire & Rescue sent 11 units to the church near South 84th and Old Cheney Road. Crews worked through the morning, extinguishing the fire and containing damage to the south-end of the building around 7 a.m.
“I got a phone call about 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning, that the fire alarm was going off,” recalled Pastor Watson, who suspected the alert to be a typical false alarm. “But when we got there, sure enough, there were fire trucks.”
Watson is thankful the fire didn’t go any deeper than the building’s roof. However, in the process of LFR extinguishing the flames, the rest of the building sustained damage from water and smoke — totaling over $1 million dollars.
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- New Covenant Community Church
With the New Covenant’s main worship area out of commission, Watson was determined not to let an unfortunate weather event cancel his Sunday morning sermon.
Speakers set up for Sunday service in the New Covenant Community Church parking lot, following a destructive fire. (New Covenant Community Church)
“We were able to scramble and put together a service in our parking lot on Sunday,” Watson told KLIN News. “Tons of people showed up, which was a really encouraging experience just being together and spending some time praying.”
Parking lot prayers will continue at New Covenant this coming Sunday and possibly the week after, weather pending, Watson says.
“A lot of churches in town have reached out offering space if needed, which has been wonderful. We’re still assessing our options for a longer term solution, but in the short term, we’re going to be in the parking lot for a couple weeks,” Watson said.
Looking on the bright side of outdoor service, Watson is grateful the bolt of lightning didn’t strike in January or August… as last Sunday’s weather —and future forecasts — are very pleasant.
Like many churches, New Covenant doubles as a polling place for local election precincts 10 H-3 and 10 H-7. Poor timing, Nebraska’s statewide primary elections are next Tuesday, May 14.
The Lancaster County Election Commission announced these two polling places will be moved to Faith Bible Church located at 6201 South 84th Street. Notices of this change have been mailed to all voters affected. Signs will also be used next Tuesday to direct affected voters to Faith Bible Church across South 84th Street.
In the face of these unexpected challenges, Watson says life goes on.
“When you think about the pandemic and all the things we’ve been through the last few years, this is something that we’re going to walk through together,” Watson said, optimistically. “God has taken care of us and provided for us for 38 years and so we just trust he’ll continue to do so… it won’t be terribly long before we’re back doing things like we normally do on Sunday.”
Water used to extinguish the roof top fire of New Covenant Community Church pools before a cross in the churches lobby. (Courtesy: New Covenant Community Church)