The 200 people who worship at Easthampton Congregational Church emerged from a calamity last week with faith intact and ties strengthened with their sister church in Southampton.
The ceiling of Fellowship Hall, used for social gatherings at Easthampton Congregational, collapsed the night of April 24, leaving knee-high piles of plaster and insulation.
Concerned about the building’s structural safety, as well as its air quality, the church was closed last week while tests were performed.
That left the Rev. Sherry Tucker seeking an alternative site for their worship service May 1 – to which they already had invited gospel singer Evelyn Harris to perform.
Not to worry. A member of the Southampton church posted on Facebook a picture of the damaged hall in Easthampton. The Southampton church’s minister, the Rev. Jennifer Valentine, took notice on April 26 and called Tucker to offer help. The next day, the two were planning a joint Sunday service at the Southampton church.
Harris agreed to switch venues and perform with the two church choirs in Southampton. That meant some scrambling for members of the choirs who had just a few days to practice the music they would perform together with Harris.
Tucker and Valentine shared the ministry on Sunday, an offering was taken to help the Easthampton church pay for the cost of cleaning up its building and, according to Tucker, the music was “out of this world.”
Valentine agrees that the mishap provided an unexpected opportunity to strengthen ties between the two churches, building on a relationship when the congregations worship together during July and August. “It was energizing and community-building and life-giving,” she says.
Easthampton Congregational Church this week was getting back to normal. Tests show that the building is safe, the air quality was not affected by the collapse and no asbestos was found, according to Tucker. While Fellowship Hall has been sealed off from the rest of the building, staff are back in their offices and the sanctuary will be used for worship this Sunday.
But the benefits of fellowship together were not lost on Tucker and Valentine, who are exploring opportunities for occasional joint ministries throughout the year.
Especially for Tucker, the calamity-driven experience was a reaffirmation of her faith, witnessing the help offered not just from Southampton but also by other churches and groups like the Easthampton Community Center.
“It was Christianity in action for me,” Tucker says. “What we preach every Sunday was actually happening — it’s been pretty special.”