Members of burned Claremore church hold worship in temporary facility on Sunday
By SAMANTHA VICENT World Staff Writer on Jul 28, 2013, at 4:04 PM
Claremore
A new Rogers County sheriff's program is turning a helping hand back to its officers who help residents, often putting aside their needs.
Workers this week began razing the old Rogers County Courthouse, which was erected more than 70 years ago.
CLAREMORE – Merely a week after a fire burned down their place of worship, the members of the Christ Presbyterian Church say their faith in God's plan remains stronger than ever.
“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself,” said pastor Dave Schwenk during the church’s first service since the blaze. “Jesus says ‘Let tomorrow worry about itself.’”
About 25 members of the congregation gathered Sunday morning at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Claremore, a temporary home for the group while it plans for a replacement.
Last Saturday eight area fire departments were on hand to extinguish the fire at the Presbyterian Church, which burned the 100-plus year-old building to the ground and left nearly everything inside unsalvageable.
The church’s normal size is between 30 and 40 people, and the congregation was in the midst of completing renovations on the building, which the church purchased about five years ago, church elder Neil Thielen said.
“We even had a couple of heating and air units sitting there in boxes still. We were getting ready to redo the HVAC in the sanctuary,” he said. “It’s kind of devastating because you’ve been going through a lot of work and effort, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears, so to speak … but the Lord is going to drive us in some direction and we’ll just be there waiting.”
The service was a welcome event for Eldon and Crystal Riley, who have been members of the congregation for the past 6 1/2 years. The Rileys’ four children, ages 7 to 15, attended Sunday School while their parents listened to Schwenk’s service.
“It’s a little different, but in the end it doesn’t matter. Church isn’t where you gather on Sunday morning; it’s who you gather with,” Eldon Riley said. “We’re with the same people.”
Read more of this story in Monday's Tulsa World.
Claremore
A new Rogers County sheriff's program is turning a helping hand back to its officers who help residents, often putting aside their needs.
Workers this week began razing the old Rogers County Courthouse, which was erected more than 70 years ago.
