2003 Year in Review

Wind Blows Down Church Addition

The new trusses at Open Bible Fellowship blew down in last week's winds. Photo by Rich Nolan

Insurance covered wind damage to Open Bible Fellowship's new addition. Photo by Rich Nolan

With just nine trusses left to complete the roof, they all came tumbling down. Last week’s wind of nearly 60 mph gusts brought the trusses of the Open Bible Fellowship’s new addition crashing to the ground around 5:00 pm last Friday night. Paster Chris Byrd was grounded at Ohare airport because of the wind when his wife called him. He had to rent a car to return home to find his new roof looking like pick up sticks. Contractor Jim Sikkema of Fulton had his crew reinforcing the roof until 2:30 when gusts made it to dangerous to remain.

Their first call was to State Farm Insurance to find they were completely covered and the company would pay for all removal (even the nine trusses that remained standing) and the reinstallation. “Without insurance we would have been shut down,” according to Pastor Bird. The only problem it creates is that it puts them 2-3 weeks behind their schedule. With the unusually warm weather this week it would have been ideal to pour concrete for the floor. They were able to repair the existing walls. New trusses have been ordered and are expected Friday.

Open Bible Fellowship is a nondenominational church that was started 14-1/2 years ago. Paster Byrd has been with the church for last 13. “We have something here just about every night of the week. Our youth programs are so large we fill every space, even using closets for room. We needed more space for those programs,” explained Pastor Byrd.

Their current church is the old Union Grove School. They have remodeled the gym as their sanctuary and during events they must remove all the chairs to accommodate open space. “It’s very time consuming,” according to Pastor Byrd. The old classrooms have accommodated Head Start during the week for the past 6-7 years but they are also used for an office and Christian education.

The new 90 x 124 addition will include a multi purpose room for children and youth ministries. The partition between the two rooms can be removed for a 50 x 70 room with a stage. Three new offices with an area for a secretary will help free up space in the classrooms. The addition also has 2 rooms for nurseries and a hospitality area. The total cost of the project is around $380,000. Once the basic construction is done, the 300 members will be pitching in to finish the inside. They have a young congregation that works days so most of the work will be done nights and weekends. The plan was to be done by April 1st but they are not sure if that is still attainable.

Open Bible Fellowship

by Barb Benson, theCity1.com
November 20, 2003