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WCC: Restoring a Church-Restoring a Community

Winthrop Congregational Church of Holbrook Massachusetts celebrated 200 years last year in December of 2018. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond the congregation's and administration's control, the roof began to leak early 2018 during a massive rain storm. Water was flowing down one of the main support posts on the right corner of the sanctuary causing the sill at the bottom to become weak and the corner post broke through to the foundation. The corner of the building then sunk 5-6 inches in total causing damage to the structural integrity of the building. The structural engineer was even quoted saying that "it’s a wonder it didn’t already COMPLETELY collapse into itself." That's all God right there. Within months of the incident the building was then shut down for construction and a long wait for the building to be open again. February of 2019 the congregation of 25 members was displaced with hopes of being back in the building in a few months. For the first 2 months, we did what we could with what we had. We had certain weeks where we visited other churches as a group like Restoration in Brockton and Brookville Baptist in Holbrook. Thank you to those churches who opened their doors for us. Recently, we have been meeting at the Holbrook Historical Society building. Huge thank you to the Historical Society for allowing us to use their space for last three to four months. We had other weeks where we had open Sundays where each member of the congregation could attend where they wanted to. Many visited childhood churches, family churches, churches they have been wanting to visit, or churches nearby Winthrop. So many of these churches lifted our congregation and our building up in prayer and we couldn’t be more thankful. During this time we learned the importance of being a family and even at some points got together in the homes of those who could host the congregation. It was truly wonderful. It was in these moments we were reminded that our big and beautiful building was not what Winthrop was. It was the people. Matthew 18:20 says  "If two or more gather in my name, there I will be also." God doesn't care about where we meet, how advanced our tech is or how ornate or updated our buildings are. A simple gathering of people coming together to worship Him, is as beautiful to Him as Sunday morning service.

 

During these first few months, we received word of what the damage was and how much it was going to cost to fix the corner. $180,000. Sadly, this repair will drain most of our savings as a church and prevent us from doing the necessary changes to a blessing to the community. Currently, we have a projection of 2 more years until we run out of funds completely. During the early months of the construction, there were conversations about selling the building due to not being able to afford it long after the building and damage was fixed. Through prayer and thorough contemplation, we determined that that was not what we were to do. We feel that God really has something He wants to do here in Holbrook with Winthrop. Winthrop is deep seeded into the community here in Holbrook being home to a Brazilian Congregation that meets in our building twice a week, our church is home for the Boy Scouts Troop 56, who use our building to meet weekly, the Council on Aging uses our building to show movies for those who enjoy the company of others, the Rotary Club uses our building during Thanksgiving and Christmas to put together food baskets for the families in need and the town, partnered with the Rotary Club, uses our building after the Holbrook Christmas Tree Lighting that Winthrop has been a part of for many years where families come to get their picture taken with Santa and enjoy cookies and cocoa. Winthrop also works with the collation of churches in our community to put together the Movie in the Park evening with games, food, outreach and a movie during the month of August.

 

Winthrop Congregational is a big part of Holbrook and feels a specific calling to continue being a huge part in the community outreach. With that outreach, comes the need for funding. These repairs will wipe out our funding for those opportunities we would so love to be a part of. We ask you now, to partner and come along side us for this journey and pray for our part in Holbrook. That our outreach will be helpful and a benefit to others. We also ask you to partner with us financially if you feel called to do so. We hope to embrace the calling when it comes to being able to serve God and others by showing them the love of Jesus. Thank you and we appreciate your help. God Bless!

Organizer

Wcc Holbrook
Organizer
Holbrook, MA
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