This week's building update will be brief and to the point. We’ve had steady progress this week, as the drying and remediation phase is now complete. It is nice to be able to focus entirely on the rebuilding phase moving forward! The main events of this week:
DryTime work is complete and all the fans and equipment have been removed from the building.
The foyer and back hallway carpet was removed.
With the bottom 24” of drywall removed, it is a great time to have some electrical work done in the form of adding additional outlets. A local electrical contractor began work on that project this week, and should be complete by the middle of next week.
We received bids for drywall work from a couple of different companies. They will begin work next week as the electricians finish up. This project will take approximately two to three weeks.
The design team has met multiple times to select paint color and carpet. We hope to begin painting as soon as the drywall crews are done. The team has also been working on selecting window coverings, which was a project already in motion prior to the flood.
The Wednesday youth group night was held at Northwest Gospel – Camas. We are thankful for their hospitality! The youth staff and kids have been very flexible during this time and are a great example of community within the youth ministry!
The insurance piece of the puzzle tends to slow down a bit during this phase, as bids must be submitted for each major part of the project. A proactive approach has been taken, balancing the needs of our congregation with increased time the insurance processing will take. We will share in a transparent way how this all plays out.
As the timeline is coming more into focus, it looks like the beginning of March will put us into the painting phase of this project. This is where volunteer work can make up for areas that insurance may not cover. For example, some chairs were damaged, but not all. We’d like to replace the chairs, but it is likely insurance will only cover a small portion of total replacement. Painting ourselves will help ‘fund’ a chair replacement. With that in mind, there will be opportunities to help out with this in the beginning of March. Stay tuned!
It’s important to remember that throughout this process, we have seen God’s provision in many ways –
The local body of Christ letting us use their space in the interim.
Gifting our congregation with skills that have smoothed out the process of managing contractors, insurance claims, the project as a whole, and those with a skillful eye for design.
Starting community groups at the same time, which has been very helpful in maintaining community within Harvest.
The fact that our current series on Community also started at the same time.
If you have a need, question or comment, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a staff or elder!
Greg Goostree, Lead Pastor—greg.goostree@harvestcc.info Matt Eldredge, Pastor of Communities and People—Matt.Eldredge@harvestcc.info Alyssa Goostree, Administrator—office@harvestcc.info or 360-834-4081 Jon Eddy, Elder - Jonathan.Eddy@comcast.net or 360-521-5204
February 2, 2024
Harvest Family,
Our first week of off-site gathering was a wonderful success, thanks to the hard work of many and the hospitality of our brothers and sisters at Grace. We appreciate everyone who volunteered to make the transition as smooth as possible. We invite you to worship as a body this Sunday at Grace at 3:00 PM.
In this week’s building update, we want to share some pictures that will help tell the story of what happened, and the progress that has been made in the two weeks since the water pipe ruptured in the sanctuary. If you remember from the first update last week, we are looking at this event in two distinct phases; 1) Drying / Mitigation / Assessing the damage and 2) Rebuilding. First, some pictures of the building immediately after arriving and prior to any water removal efforts.
A volunteer team arrived shortly after the leak was discovered, and over the next couple of hours, removed all the standing water using shop vacs. DryTime and the insurance adjuster said that this prevented the damage from being much more extensive. Since the initial response, a lot of progress has been made in the phase 1 efforts:
The cause of the pipe rupture was determined and measures taken to prevent future issues. The elbow joint that failed was repaired, and the sprinkler system was inspected and reactivated.
The source of the leak immediately after discovery.
Same location after repair. Drywall and sheathing had to be removed for drying.
Fans and dehumidifiers were set up to dry all areas impacted. Because you cannot simply plug in 37 industrial fans and dehumidifiers, special power distribution had to be set up by an electrician.
Carpet was removed in the sanctuary as well as classrooms 3 and 4. Carpet will be removed in other hallways when staffing is available. Flooring removed in room 7. Carpet remains in office, nursery, and other classrooms because they didn’t get wet. Sound booth largely disassembled to give access for drying underneath.
Sound booth equipment underwent initial testing to determine damage and loss.
“Flood Cuts” have been made to drywall. A flood cut entails removing the bottom 24” of drywall to allow fans to dry out the interior wall structure. There will be up to 950 feet of flood cuts done in the building!
Dean and Ben met with the field adjuster on site. The adjuster’s role is to inventory loss and determine how much the insurance company will pay out. This process takes some time, but we should begin to know some numbers in a couple of weeks.
Weren’t we planning on doing some updates anyway? Yes. This event will advance the timeline on planned updates. The design team has been meeting in anticipation of this. Some updates will be required, while others may be more opportunistic and cost effective to do while the building is not being used.
Speaking of finances, are we going to be okay? Yes. We are sitting in a strong position when looking at our reserves. We must be good stewards of what God has provided over the years— in re-investing in our building, ministries, and missions while maintaining adequate reserves when this particular challenge is over our goals.
When can we return to our building? This depends on a lot of variables, all of which will come into better focus in the weeks ahead. Discussions have taken place about what needs to be done before this happens. Phase 1 (drying) must be complete, and drywall that has been removed must be installed. Beyond that, the logistics of moving chairs and equipment while flooring is removed and replaced must also be considered. Right now, everything that was in the sanctuary, room 7, and impacted classrooms is stuffed into the youth room, nursery, and classroom 1. It’s kind of messy and chaotic! We know for sure the next four weeks will not be in our building. Beyond that, we just don’t know yet.
Closing thoughts While we have our work cut out for us over the next couple months, your staff, elders, and deacons are optimistic for the future of our building, but especially in the opportunities to deepen our commitment to community in the body of Christ. Things will be a bit different for a while. That’s okay. If you are not in a small group, we strongly encourage you to join one. Deepening relationships, getting to know people, and as we learned from Jamie last Sunday—resisting the forces that try to separate us from God and community with the body of Christ are all benefits of being in a small group, especially while our regular meetings look different. Contact any staff person or elder if you want to join!
Greg Goostree, Lead Pastor—greg.goostree@harvestcc.info Matt Eldredge, Pastor of Communities and People—Matt.Eldredge@harvestcc.info Alyssa Goostree, Administrator—office@harvestcc.info or 360-834-4081 Jon Eddy, Elder - Jonathan.Eddy@comcast.net or 360-521-5204
Contacts to help with current needs:
Sunday School Helpers - Additional Sunday School helpers will make this ministry flow better while we adjust to a new site and time. If interested, contact Bonnie Webberley at 360-904-4331 or bwebberl@comcast.net.
Welcome Team – our Welcome Team will be stretched thin as we will need more people to help direct and welcome people. If you would like to join the welcome team, contact Kevin Johnson at 360-823-9341.
Logistics Team - there will be additional logistical needs for moving things (Sunday school supplies, communion supplies, etc.) to or from our off-site location. We don’t know the extent of this, but if you can transport/move/cleanup things as needed, contact Jon Eddy at Jonathan.Eddy@comcast.net or 360-521-5204.
Rides - If you are willing to help give rides to people who may need it, contact Brenda Laycock at 360-521-7186.
January 23, 2024
Dear Harvest Family, As most of you likely know, last Wednesday we had a fire sprinkler head burst in the sanctuary of our church due to the cold weather. We would like give you an update about the path forward, both for repairing the damage, and plans for an alternate meeting location in the weeks ahead. Before we get into the details, we want to lead with how encouraging it has been to see God’s grace in this event. The thread of His grace and sovereignty can be seen in many different aspects, and we hope you will be as encouraged as we are. If you only read part of this update, skip down to the How You Can Help section.
What Happened On Wednesday morning, the sprinkler head above the center double doors inside the sanctuary failed due to the cold weather. Water flowed into the sanctuary for just over an hour before the Camas Fire Department shut off the water. The result was approximately 80% of floors in the building covered with up to an inch of water. The offices and nursery were minimally impacted. The sound board and other equipment in the sound booth was doused with water, and likely ruined. The new stage was largely untouched.
Immediate Steps Very quickly after notification from the fire department, Pastor Matt was on site and was able to gather a team to work on removing water. They were able to remove all of the standing water, and take initial steps to limit damage to certain areas. The next priority was to assess the damage and begin the drying process. We were able to meet with, and hire a company that specializes in this. Flood mitigation companies are in high demand after the storm, and we see God’s hand in allowing us to find a mitigation company so quickly (DryTime Restoration). Dean Gadd, our deacon of facilities has been on point with this process, and planning for the rebuilding phase.
Repairing the Damage We don’t know the extent of the damage. We know that drywall damage, carpet replacement, and trim work will be on the list of tasks. Repairing the sprinkler system will be underway by the time this update is sent out. A complete assessment of the damage to sound equipment will be made this week. The repair phase can only take place after the entire building has been dried out and damage inventoried.
Who Pays for the Damage? We immediately notified our insurer of the event, and are in the process of working with them through the assessment and repair plan going forward. An adjuster will make a site visit this week and determine the amount of coverage. There is a high degree of likelihood that replacement cost will exceed this coverage. Our finance team will be involved in this process, but the details will take time to develop.
What About Sunday Service? The body of Christ is much, much bigger than Harvest, and navigating through this challenge will be a tangible way to experience that fact. Pastor Matt has reached out to local churches to see if there is a place we can meet in the interim. Grace Church in Camas has graciously offered to let us use their facilities this Sunday, and possibly beyond. Our meeting time will change (to 3 pm), but we will have a roof over our heads and dry space as we gather to worship together!
How long will we be without our building? We don’t know yet. The drying-out process is very important. DryTime will be looking in walls for hidden water, and creating access to inner walls that were impacted. Once this process is complete, we will determine what we need to safely have a gathering inside our building. The drying out process may take a couple of weeks. The timeline for building re-use will get more into focus as we progress. A couple of weeks may turn into many weeks, but we just don’t know yet.
How You Can Help We have heard from many of you wanting to help in the process, whether in the cleanup, rebuilding, giving, or serving. Right now, the cleanup is being handled by DryTime Restoration. There will be a time for rebuilding, but not just yet. Giving will help in rebuilding while adding some planned updates. But right now, what we really need is help in serving.
Sunday School Helpers - Additional Sunday School helpers will make this ministry flow better while we adjust to a new site and time. If interested, contact Bonnie Webberley at 360-904-4331 or bwebberl@comcast.net.
Welcome Team – our Welcome Team will be stretched thin as we will need more people to help direct and welcome people. If you would like to join the welcome team, contact Kevin Johnson at 360-823-9341.
Logistics Team - there will be additional logistical needs for moving things (Sunday school supplies, communion supplies, etc.) to or from our off-site location. We don’t know the extent of this, but if you can transport/move/cleanup things as needed, contact Jon Eddy at Jonathan.Eddy@comcast.net or 360-521-5204.
Our current series on Community could not have started at a more poignant time! Your staff and elders encourage you to serve one another selflessly during this time (and all the time), and consider how you may be called to serve the body of Christ and get involved!
We will begin sending detailed weekly updates sharing the progress of these efforts. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to a staff member or elder.
Greg Goostree – Lead Pastor (in the mission field, contactable in February) Matt Eldredge – Pastor of Communities and People (503-867-0342 or matt.eldredge@harvestcc.info) Alyssa Goostree – Administrator (360-834-4081 or office@harvestcc.info) Jon Eddy – Elder (Jonathan.Eddy@comcast.net or 360-521-5204)
