Love Flows For Rebuilding Project
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Episcopal Church of the Nativity Vicar Duncan Gray (right) presented a $11,000 donation to Spring Hill North M.B. Church for the sanctuary rebuilding project. Accepting the donation were (from right) Rev. Sammy Townes and Hosea Bradford.
WATER VALLEY – Strong support is flowing from the community to help fund a project to rebuild the sanctuary at Spring Hill North M.B. Church in Water Valley. The “Rebuild The Temple Project” has a goal to raise $400,000.
“I call it the Nehemiah Project,” Pastor Sammy Townes reported. “Nehemiah had the task of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls.”
Townes has led the congregation almost 40 years and reported Sunday services were not disrupted after the sanctuary was vacated last June when the pews and pulpit were moved to the fellowship hall. The pastor reported the roof damage initially seemed minimal after moisture was observed in the ceiling, but major problems were soon discovered.
“The more sheetrock we took down, the more rafter damage we discovered,” Townes explained. “The roof started sagging and pulled the bricks away from the exterior wall.”
The damage was limited to the large sanctuary, and the adjoining front lobby on the east and fellowship hall on the south side of the church remain intact. Townes reported the sanctuary should be completed this summer, work that includes building it from the ground up.
A fundraiser was launched after the church’s insurance provider denied covering the damage as possible structural deficiencies were cited. Townes said an engineer assessed the damage and identified a 2021 winter storm that dumped several inches of snow as the likely catalyst for the damage.
The sanctuary at Spring Hill North M.B. Church was damaged after the rafters started sagging.
“The engineer said what probably happened, we had a massive amount of snow in 2021. That is what started it,” Townes explained. “The weight of the snow and the roof. The building was not designed to hold that much weight. The engineers said something had to cause the rafters to give.”
The fundraiser received a big boost with the donation of $11,050 from the Episcopal Church of the Nativity last weekend. The donation included $3,000 from the church, $1,050 in a special Sunday offering and a $7,000 contribution from the Episcopal Church in Mississippi’s diocesan scholarship, the Okolona Fund.
Duncan Gray, vicar of the Church of the Nativity and former , explained his church congregation wanted to help.
“A fellow by the name of Tommy Reynolds asked if there was any way we could help this congregation,” Gray explained.
Gray was installed as vicar of the Church of the Nativity in 2022, coming out of retirement after a 50-year pastoral career. His connection to the Church of the Nativity dates back decades earlier. After the 1984 tornado destroyed the building, he was asked by the Diocese to help handle reconstituting the Church of the Nativity.
“I think the reality is that the Church of the Nativity has gone through several stages of death and resurrection. The tornado was one. Years later it had to close because there weren’t enough members,” Gray said. “The congregation at Spring Hill also knows about death and resurrection. This is a bonding in a wonderful way.”
Hosea Bradford, Duncan Gray and Sammy Townes inspect the progress in the sanctuary.
“Someone else who has gone through something similar is going to have a heart for this,” noted Hosea Bradford, chairman of the deacons at Spring Hill.
Bradford also said the adversity has united the members of the congregation.
“If we had to pitch a tent out front, we were determined to have services because He is worthy to be praised – regardless of the circumstances,” Bradford said.
Townes reported the contribution from the Church of the Nativity is the largest, but donations have poured in to support the rebuilding effort. Everdale Baptist Church, Bayson Chapel Baptist Church, Greater Sanders Chapel Baptist Church and Greater Faith Baptist Church have also contributed.
“People we don’t even know, the support has been amazing,” reported Brenda Campbell, a longtime Spring Hill member who serves as clerk at the church.“We want to send a special thanks to all of these churches, businesses and individuals. Every donation, big or small, is a blessing,” Campbell said.
Campbell also expressed strong gratitude for her pastor helping guide his congregation during trying times. Townes lost his wife, Katherine Townes, last September following a battle with cancer. She also explained that with her pastor’s lengthy tenure, he has a strong bond with families in the church. For the youth in the church, the only pastor they have known is Townes.
“He is like a father figure to our young members. He is just like a family member for our households because we have been together so long,” Campbell said.
Pastor Appreciation Day is celebrated annually in April at Spring Hill and Sunday marks this year’s observance.
“We are going to have a little love day for him Sunday morning at 8:30. We want to let him know how much we appreciate him,” Campbell said.
(Editor’s Note: A special account has been set up at BankFirst, Spring Hill North Baptist Church Construction Fund, for donations.)
