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Selah Members Ponder Future Building Plans
SELAH, WA (September 6, 2001) - An emergency church council meeting will be held at Selah
Covenant Church today to assess future building plans following the devastating fire last week destroyed the annex of the church, causing an estimated $800,000 in damage.
An early morning fire gutted the annex August 29. Some 50 firefighters fought two hours to extinguish the blaze. No injuries were reported. The main church building and the annex are separated by a parking lot - the main building was not damaged.
The annex, built in 1910 and at one time home to the local United Methodist church, was purchased by Selah Covenant a decade ago. It was used for Sunday school classes, youth activities and a Friday night coffeehouse events, among other things.
Early reports suggested the building may have been damaged beyond repair. However, given the insurance on the structure, it may be possible to salvage the building, Pastor Marc Peterson said. The bigger question for the church is whether it makes sense to complete the repairs or to consider a move to a new site to accommodate congregational growth. North Pacific Conference Supt. Mark Novak will participate in the special planning session.
"They're checking the foundation to see if it could support anything on top of it," Peterson said. "We have a whole lot of options ahead of us."
The fire was a traumatic experience for many of the members. "People were basically saying goodbye to our annex," said Peterson in recalling recent conversations with parishioners. "One woman was weeping as she remembered the strong ministry happening in that building. We
also had a coffee shop in the basement and it's gone - it's wiped out. It's truly devastating. On the other hand, no one got killed or hurt. The first thing I felt was relief when I saw the building, knowing no one was hurt."
The church, founded in 1908, will recover from the loss and ministry to some 300 regular
attendees will move forward, the pastor says. He was reminded of that fact as he visited the charred remains.
"I went into the area and saw something white in the midst of the great room," he said. "There was a white Bible in the middle of the room that hadn't been touched." It said (on the inside cover), 'May the Lord always be your light. Always remember, He will always love you like
daddy and I love you. And we will always be there.' The Bible reminded me that there are temporal things and there are eternal things. We need to build around people."
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