A year after devastating flood, Tennessee church rebuilding and hopeful

In August last year, historic flooding hit Middle Tennessee, irreparably damaging homes and churches in the area.

Related: Emotions high as Tennessee church floods — again

The building of the Pinewood Church of Christ in Nunnelly flooded for the second time. The congregation had rebuilt once before, when storms caused devastating floods in May 2010. As a consequence, the church was unable to insure the building again, leaving it with no coverage to pay for a new building this time.

Floodwaters swamp the Pinewood Church of Christ in Nunnelly, Tenn. Read our original coverage.

But a year later, with support from Christians in the area and across the country, Pinewood is midway through construction at a new site about half a mile away from its previous building. The property previously belonged to a cattle company. Pinewood elder Phillip Bates told The Christian Chronicle construction began in May and is expected to be complete early next year.

While it’s not on the hill overlooking the old church building that church member Drew Grimes told the Chronicle he’d hoped for last year, the new site is still nearby and will offer two new buildings, Bates said: one with an auditorium and classroom spaces and another that will serve as both a fellowship hall and a storm shelter.

Construction at the Pinewood Church of Christ’s new location is partially complete.

The shelter will include a kitchen, bathrooms with showers and an electric generator.

For now, the Pinewood church continues to meet in its pavilion, which survived the flooding and has since been enclosed with heating and cooling installed. Thanks to the hard work of a lot of Christians, including those from the Brushy Church of Christ, Bates said Pinewood has been able to meet every Sunday except the one immediately after the flooding.

Since flooding destroyed its building, the Pinewood church has used its now-enclosed pavilion and a trailer for worship and Bible classes.

In a letter written by Bates and signed by the other elders, Chris Chilton and Arch McCord, the church acknowledged all the support it has received.

“We had numerous donations and contributions sent our way and are truly thankful to everyone who has provided help to us thus far,” Bates wrote. “We are truly excited about our future at Pinewood Church of Christ, and our goal is to bring more people closer to Christ and to one day accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.”

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