The Collapse
Wayside Baptist Church in Miami recently celebrated its newly renovated building with a worship service held in English, Spanish, Creole and Portuguese.
The multi-ethnic church has been in the process of repairing the worship center since the ceiling collapsed three years ago in the early morning hours of a Sunday.
“God watched over us because had the collapse happened during Sunday worship people could have been hurt, killed or both,” said Pastor David Moore.
After the ceiling collapsed, the church started to meet for worship in the gymnasium, setting up and tearing down worship equipment after every service. Due to delays in renovation the church was unable to host the Florida Baptist State Convention meeting last November but will host it in 2018.
Moore came to Wayside just months before the collapse, according to Al Fernandez, southeast regional catalyst. “The collapse and what followed were a tough test but he did well in guiding the church through it,” Fernandez said.
Restoration
John Hall, chairman of the building team, said during the renovation celebration Pastor Moore did a terrific job in “setting the spiritual tone and reminding everyone that we are doing this for Jesus and not anybody else.”
John Hall said Moore was good at “setting the spiritual tone and reminding everyone that we are doing this for Jesus and not anybody else.”
From Moore’s perspective, the entire project would not have taken shape without the incredible team that God brought together as well as the work and sacrifice of many.
During the renovation process Pastor Moore said the top two priorities were to have a safe worship space as well as a space that would work well for their various ministries.
The ceiling of the new sanctuary has a better support system and is lighter than the previous version. The renovation has also improved the room’s acoustics.
Volunteers and staff dedicated their time as well as their physical and creative energy to see this project through and on that Sunday morning when the entire Wayside family worshiped side by side, it was clear in their smiles and friendly embraces that they were overjoyed with the final result.
“It took faith, persistence and teamwork to get to where we are,” said Moore.
By Keila Diaz, Florida Baptist Convention, January 31, 2018