DETROIT – The Greater Philadelphia Tabernacle of Highland Park saw its roof implode earlier this year.
Poor construction caught up with the members, and they struggled along with that collapsed roof for months.
Yet, while trying to figure out how to build a new church, the pastor and his wife decided to continue the church’s community service programs.
Demolition crews moved in this week and knocked the church down, but ask any pastor, and they will tell you the church isn’t the walls as it’s the people making up the community and how committed they are to giving as the giving on a large scale happens Saturday (Sept. 2).
The church looked one way for 30 years, but the roof gave way last May, and for months, the steeple tilted over farther than the Leaning Tower of Pizza, and the mess atop never got better.
Rather than fret about when or whether the church would get rebuilt, Pastor James Cook and wife Tiffany led a caravan north the next Sunday.
“As a matter of fact, when the church fell that Friday, we met here in the parking lot, and we went to Saginaw to another church,” said Cook.
It took months for the insurance company to decide the remaining trusses were unstable. So, this week, they knocked the old building down.
Cook with a message to his parishioners who now go to church on Meyers Road and Puritan Avenue.
“Keep the faith in God,” Cook said. “He never left us, and he’s not going to leave us, so the word of God says I will never leave you or forsake you. Through this temporary process, we’re still moving forward.”
“We didn’t lose faith, we didn’t waiver, we just continued on, and we’re just doing what we need to do for the community,” said Tiffany. “It didn’t stop us.”
When you don’t think of those walls as your church, the mission becomes clear, and on Saturday, they’re going to fill an empty lot.
“We’re giving away everything from book bags to household items to bikes, and we’re going to have vendors,” James said.
They will be offering free food and school supplies to any needy family in the area.
“CVS Pharmacy is coming with a mobile unit to come and do free health screenings for the public, all free,” Tiffany said.
The church had insurance and would get a new building in eight to 10 months.
The event will be held from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 74 Kendall Street in Highland Park.
