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Port Arthur church holds first day of service in home building after Harvey

United Methodist Temple church members were glad to be back in their own building just in time for the Christmas season.

United Methodist Temple church members made it back to their home church for the first time after Tropical Storm Harvey.

While their sanctuary is still being repaired, the congregation met in the church’s gym.

The church went through repairs from Hurricane Rita and now Tropical storm Harvey.
Waymon Hallmark, a Port Arthur native says that today’s service was a sign that the community continues to heal after Harvey.

"It is so wonderful to be back at the church, we never thought we'd ever see flooding like we did in this area," Hallmark said.

The church took on thirteen inches of water. Repairs were fully completed to the children’s day school while there is no definite time for the rest of the building to be finished.

Rev. Guy Williams says that church members offered Port Neches Elementary School to be used for service.

Williams says he’s grateful that church members helped restore the building.

"Lots of church members have pitched in, helped out and helped come clean things out and to help with the recovery. The staff and our trustees, finance, board members have put in many hours to get a lot of work done to make it all happen," Williams said.

Hallmark hopes that this will encourage others to stay strong in their recovery from Harvey.

"We can't wait until all of the Port Arthur area is back over the flood damage that we went through," Hallmark said.

Rev. Williams says they will learn about the timeline of repairs for the rest of the building sometime this week.

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