grand re-opening set - sunday, april 16, 2023

SPRING STREET FIRE - mAY 23, 2022

 So What Happened??

 Monday, May 23, 2022 marked one of the most horrific disasters in the history of Blythe.  Fire began in the Sears store, immediately north of our facility, just inside the concrete block wall we share with Sears, and spread throughout the entire buildings, Ashley Furniture and Sears.  The fire absolutely ravaged both businesses, from the "shared wall" to the end of the block to the nortyh.  The fire left them completely destroyed.

The fire appeared to advance toward our church and actually appeared as though it had crossed over to our building on several occasions.  We received numerous reports that the church was on fire!  Six of the eyewitnesses have told us that as the flames began to "lick" the roof of our facility, a breeze blowing north began to blow, which stopped the fire's advancement south to the church.  Blythe Fire Dept, and other supporting agencies kept the water flowing and the fire ended up not advancing to our building, nor leaving any direct fire damage to our facility.  In the early hours of Tuesday morning as the fire was being nearly extinguished, it became apparent that our building had been spared.  

Even though there is no direct fire damage to our worship center, there was notable water and smoke damage inside.  Demo work involving water and smoke damage areas was completed over the summer.  As renovation plans began to formulate, the bigger concern became the integrity of the concrete wall previously shared with the Sears building.  Damage assessments and inspections were completed in the ensuing months which showed the wall's remaining strength is good, but will have to be additionally supported structurally on our side of the wall to boost it's strength.  

Structural evaluations resulted in engineering drawings being completed detailing the specific plan to sheer up the wall.  Plans were submitted in November, and we have now received approvals, with building permits now ready to be issued.  In addition to the strengthing of the wall structure, much of the flooring and drywall in the entire northern side will need to be replaced.  We expect renovation work to actually begin in early January, with a goal of beingiable to return to the building in Spring of 2023.

 a couple videos of perspective

Pastor Mick's "Day After" 5-min Perspective & Hope

A 30-second glance of the devastation on Spring Street

So - What do we now with a building we can't occupy?!

Was the church destroyed?

No, not at all.  Damaged, yes.  Destroyed, no,   And not only that, but the church isn't the building, it's the PEOPLE!  The building will be repaired but the real church is in good shape.

So now, we renew our focus as a family ... and be flexible

So now that our comfort has been totally shaken (that's actually sometimes a good thing), we continue on, ministering and serving as a family - probably more now that ever before.  Then, as we make arrangements for an alternative location, we will need to be flexible as we may have to change some of our ministry schedule around some.  As Calvary' beloved founder Chuck Smith was found of saying, "Blessed are the flexible ... they will not be broken."

But where will we meet?  

We will be meeting Sunday Mornings, as well as several weeknight for ministry at the First Southern Baptist Church, 350 N. Palm Drive, Blythe.  See below for more info. 

How long will it take to renew our building?

Revised projections are that we will likely be able to re-occupy our Spring Street facility in Spring of 2023.  

Updated 12/8/2022 

now the great news ...

God has provided a place to worship while our building gets some needed attention

Effective Immediately ...

Our friends at the First Southern Baptist Church have invited us to have our services at their building.  We will be having our Sunday Morning Worship Service at 9:30 - 10:35 AM (NOTE THE EARLIER TIME) and they will follow us with their regular Sunday Service at 11:00 AM.

Over our years in Blythe, we have had the privilege to develop an encouraging friendship and mutually supporting 

relationship with the SBC congregation.  We are so grateful for their hospitality.  We will also be able to continue some of our mid-week ministries at their facility.

We are humbled by the help and encouragement of so many in our community,  and encouraged by the grace and blessings God has showered on us already as we go through this new challenging season of our church ministry.  To God by the Glory!