Hideaway Lake church rebuilds after 2012 fire

Published 10:58 pm Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Scorched treetops are all the visible damage that remains of a 2012 fire that destroyed the worship center at Hideaway Lake Community Church.

Instead of ashes, a new brick building with large windows and a state-of-the-art worship center stands in its place, a testament to the work and generosity of many.

On Sunday, the 400-member church and community will dedicate this new structure, three years after construction started on it.

“Well it’s been a long struggle, and we’ve had a lot of assistance from members of the congregation and they have stayed with us,” Doug Byrd, chairman of the church’s building committee and a church board trustee, said. “We have seen on our opening Sunday last week a number of people return that we haven’t seen in a while. They have come back, and we’ll see whether they continue. It’s encouraging.”

The night of the fire, a strong line of storms had blown into the area, and firefighters believe a lightning strike in the middle of the night caused the blaze. Because the strike happened overnight, by the time firefighters arrived at the scene, flames had fully engulfed the building.

Using a walkway between the Family Life Center and the Worship Center, the firefighters fought the blaze and kept it from consuming the Family Life Center. Rain also helped put it out.

Church building committee member David Simmons said it was embers falling on nearby houses that alerted neighbors to the blaze. By the time firefighters arrived, flames were coming from the building.

The aftermath of the fire was devastating, Simmons said.

“It’s very difficult,” he said. “The biggest issue is that you lose all hope.”

The first Sunday after the fire, the church congregation met in the community’s park.

It took about a month to clean up the surviving part of the building. In that time, the congregation decided to convert the church’s gym into a temporary sanctuary.

Then they set to work on making plans for the new building. For a small church it’s a phenomenal facility, he said.

“Everybody’s been really good about supporting it financially,” he said.

The new facility, which measures almost 24,000 square feet, cost $3.6 million to build. Senior Pastor Paul Garrison said the church raised more than $1 million in addition to insurance money to fund the construction.

The new space features a 369-seat worship center with a stage for the praise band, a choir area and screens on the wall where song lyrics, videos and other presentations can be displayed. The old sanctuary seated 275 people.

A large window runs the length of the main stage. Curtains covered it on Wednesday, but they can be opened to let in sunlight.

The new space also includes a children’s wing with classrooms. Upstairs there are several adult classrooms and a library that slowly is being replenished with books. All of the books in the old one burned.

Outside the sanctuary, a gathering area includes tables and chairs, large windows that stretch almost from the floor to the ceiling along one wall and a missions wall, where people can digitally communicate with the church’s missionaries.

Simmons said church members dug the old cornerstone out of the ashes and now it and a new cornerstone are on display in one of the church’s outside walls.

The old cornerstone reads, “Dedicated to the glory of God and founded on His son Jesus Christ. Organized June 1, 1973. Dedicated May 18, 1975.”

The new cornerstone reads, “We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. Psalm 66:12. Refined by fire March 20, 2012. Rededicated March 20, 2015.”

Staff writer Kenneth Dean contributed to this report.

Twitter: @TMTEmily and @KenDeanofTyler

If you go:

Who: Hideaway Lake Community Church

What: Open House and Dedication Service

When: 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday

Where: 1115 Lake Cross Road, Hideaway

Details: Guests must check in at the gate