| La Plata UMC returns to restored sanctuary Erik Alsgaard UMConnection Staff 
With banners depicting butterflies hanging in five large windows and bright sunshine streaming throughout, members and friends of the LaPlata UMC gathered for worship Sept. 8 in the churchs sanctuary for the first time since the tornado of April 28. Its a wonderful day to be here, said the Rev. Edward Voorhaar, LaPlatas pastor, at the beginning of the packed worship service. This is an important occasion in the life of our church. Five people in the community died as a result of the storm. The differences between September and April couldnt have been more striking. Last April, the tornado destroyed the churchs education building; the roof of the sanctuary was damaged, and the signature steeple was toppled. Dirt, broken glass and debris filled the sanctuary. In the last four months, volunteer church members have spent hours scrubbing walls, cleaning pews, wiping-down hymnals and doing whatever they could to help. On this day, smiles and hugs were shared in abundance as people welcomed each other home. Were back home, said Gary Davis, chair of the staff pastor relations committee. When youre not in your home, you feel lost, you feel uncomfortable. Here, we feel comfortable again. Ive never seen the walls of the church so white, said Lillie Durney after worship. She and her husband, Tom, were members of the church but now live in Frostburg. Sept. 8 was their first time back after the storm. And the windows, she said, how clean they were! Voorhaar and Davis both agreed that Sept. 8 was only the beginning of the long road to recovery for the church and the community. Replacing the steeple is the next phase of the rebuilding project. For the childrens sermon, Voorhaar used a pillow he had brought from home as he talked to the children on the front steps of the altar about being out of town and sleeping in a different bed other than his own. He said the time away from the sanctuary was like that. We worshiped in the high school for a while, he said, and that was nice; God was there. But theres something about coming here thats more comfortable. Seventy-one churches in the Baltimore-Washington Conference made donations to the church, totaling just over $49,000, Voorhaar said. Approximately $15,000 has come in from individuals and local businesses. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has provided money for LaPlata UMC to hire temporary staff to assist in the ministry of recovery. The Rev. George Anderson, retired, has been working since June 1. Bill Fallin was recently hired to be coordinator of the community recovery team. Voorhaar shared a vision during the worship service of the ministry for the church and the community. We are going to recruit and train volunteers, he said, and organize a community recovery team that will implement programs to help families and victims of the tornado. We will focus on the spiritual and emotional needs of these people. An ecumenical committee, that will meet the emotional and spiritual needs of the community, will be created, he said. After worship, Voorhaar was interviewed by a film crew from the PBS show, Nova, shooting a documentary, to air in March 2004, on the impact of tornadoes and early detection systems. This building is important, he said, and I think the congregation and community kind of took it for granted. The tornado came through and it wasnt there. This experience can make us better; it can teach us that we really need other people. The pastor, standing in the middle of the now vacant church, said that people are never the same after a tornado. He compared the aftermath to the death of a loved one, and said healing is a process, not an event. With Gods help, we can get through this. We become better tomorrow than we are today. | 
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