TULSA -- A north Tulsa church lost its home just days before Thanksgiving after an early morning fire Sunday, but the congregation hasn't lost hope.
“It was such a comfortable place to worship in," Word of Faith Tabernacle Pastor E.J. Brooks said.
Through the front door, yellow tape, denoting a fire, surrounds Word of Faith Tabernacle. The building was established in the 1920s.
“There’s many souls and lives that have been changed in this building," senior minister Vernon Coleman said.
Windows boarded up, glass broken and a hole in the ceiling.
“I went into the building and that’s when my heart was broken," Pastor Brooks said.
Ashes now cover the sanctuary floor. A fire in the attic Sunday morning torched plastic drapes and melted children’s crayons.
"We don’t stop," Pastor Brooks said. "We continue even if it is in my living room. That morning my living room was full of people, standing room only.”
An offering dish lies in the center of the recently $35,000 remodel now in ruins.
“We just didn’t see it as an old building, what we saw was this old building with a newness of Christ that we operated today," Coleman said.
Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and the congregation of more than 50 are left without a place of worship.
“Put on hold for the time being, however if we were able to acquire a building during that time, we would keep on keeping on," Pastor Brooks said.
Smoke residue is left on the door knob, but a sign of hope, a cross, survived the blaze..
“We believe there is more than just hope, there is a way out," Coleman said.
The power of faith can cause beauty to come out of ashes.
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