Garden City Pastor: "We'll be going faster than ever"

• By Tommy Howard

  thoward@gtowntimes.com

  Despite the multi-million-dollar loss of their church building, Pastor Rich McLawhorn and his church members are going full steam ahead.

  Late Tuesday afternoon, SLED spokesman Jennifer Timmons of Columbia said a preliminary report on the agency's investigation said the likely cause of the fire at Garden City Baptist Church was lightning.

  Services will be nearby

  Meanwhile, office facilities are set up, worship services will be held at the nearby St. Michael Catholic Church at least into early August, and outreach ministries will continue.

  Early Sunday morning -- about 1:30 a.m. -- a passerby alerted emergency services that there was a fire at Garden City Baptist Church.

  Within minutes, the first of about 80 firefighters and other emergency responders were on the scene.

  Murrells Inlet/Garden City [MI/GC] Fire and Rescue Chief Norman Knight said at the peak of the fire-fighting efforts, about 80 personnel from at least five agencies were involved.

  His department had at least six trucks and a lot of other equipment on the scene.

  Surfside Beach and Myrtle Beach fire departments sent units to help fight the fire. Horry County fire had six or seven vehicles assisting, and Midway Fire had two units at the MI/GC headquarters station.

  While Midway units were on standby, Knight said, they responded to a couple of other calls for his department.

  Despite their best efforts, Knight said, the fire and water likely mean most if not all of the church's physical plant are lost.

  Knight said he doesn't know what the damage amounts to in dollars, but with the fire, heat, water and smoke damage he's guessing it will be close to a complete loss.

  The one area that may be salvaged is the oldest part, the children's church.

  "That's where Billy Graham preached after Hurricane Hugo," McLawhorn said.

  Both the pastor and the fire chief see the hand of God at work in dealing with the fire.

  Bible saved from flames

  Knight made a point that one of the few items saved from the three connected buildings that make up the church was a Bible.

  During a service held at 11 a.m. Sunday in the Duffy Center at St. Michael's Catholic Church, just a couple of blocks from McLawhorn's church, the pastor showed his congregation the Bible. It's been in the church since it was built 35 years ago.

  Also, the cross in the sanctuary of the church was intact, though the wall behind it and most of the rest of the structure were gone.

  "It focuses my belief on who guides us, guards us and protects us," Chief Knight said.

  Also, he noted, one Horry County firefighter took a misstep. He was treated and released from the hospital, and that was the only injury.

  "It was absolutely amazing," Knight continued, "with the numbers of equipment and people on the scene, and most of it in the dark, we were very fortunate."

  Knight said he personally believes the cause of the fire was a lightning strike, but he's not certain of that.

  The State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigates all church fires. Agents were on the scene Sunday checking out the debris in an effort to determine the cause of the fire. Late Tuesday, SLED said its preliminary report confirms lightning was the likely cause.

  A neighbor came by the fire scene Sunday morning and told firefighters there was thunder and lightning from a storm underway about the time of the fire.

  Miracles happen

  Pastor Rich, as his congregation calls him, said church members were close to completing a beautification project for the church, in preparation for the 35th anniversary next January.

  With a quote of some $35,000, members of the church agreed to do the work themselves. Different Sunday School classes and individuals took on part of the work of painting and other efforts, and were about 85 percent complete, McLawhorn said.

  In his own life, he said, he's witnessed miracles.

  Even with the shock of losing their physical plant, deacons and other church members have been pitching in and taking care of business.

  Different ones have arranged for phone lines, computers, duplicating equipment, desks and chairs.

  Speaking early Monday afternoon, McLawhorn said "We're back doing business today. It's business as usual, and ministry as usual."

  With the office set up, there will be a bulletin and newsletter prepared this week.

  "Most of the church files have been destroyed," McLawhorn said. "God has blessed us. We have a staff person who is knowledgeable about computers." He was able to recover many church records from the office computer and McLawhorn's sermons and other data from the pastor's computer.

  Just a building

  Even though the financial loss is severe, McLawhorn and many in the church recognize that it's just a building that's lost. The church is its members, he said.

  A team of experts for the church's insurance company was to fly in to the area Monday night or Tuesday and go through the facility in great detail. That's to make sure the portions of the structure that appear to be mostly intact are safe, and of course to determine the dollar amount of the loss.

  "A large number of people from the church are cleaning up," McLawhorn said, but insurance representatives asked them to hold off on any salvage efforts for the time being.

  Moving forward

  "One thing I want people to understand, this is not going to set us back," McLawhorn said.

  There are speed bumps on roads and speed bumps in life. They cause you to slow down, he explained, but once you get over the speed bump you move ahead.

  "We will be going faster than ever before," he said.

  "I am absolutely, totally convinced from the depths of my soul we are going forward."

  The church will continue its own business, along with its outreach ministries. Those include South Strand Helping Hands, StreetReach, and internal programs to help people who may lose their jobs.

  The fire won't stop those efforts, he said.

  The church has been growing. Right now, the Sunday School rolls are the highest they've been in at least the past nine years.

  "This will make us much more determined to go forward.

  "I am not a pie in the sky kind of guy."

  With the good people of the church pitching in and helping share the load, the church will be OK, he said.

  "I have a sense of what Moses saw when God parted the Red Sea." Moses lifted his staff, but "God did it."

  "Once you see something like that, it's hard for anything to faze you."

  Want to help?

  "I was met in the church parking lot [Monday] morning by one of the deacons with a copy of the Georgetown Times."

  McLawhorn said he appreciates the fact that the paper told its readers about the fire.

  While insurance will be a big help financially, for those who would like to contribute, they may contact:

  Garden City Baptist Church, 501 Pine Avenue, Garden City Beach, SC 29576. The church telephone number is (843) 651-3663.

  Weekly services

  From the church's Web site, www.gardencitybaptistchurch.com:

  "We will continue to meet on Sunday mornings at 9:45 for Sunday School and at 11:00 for worship service at St. Michael's Catholic Church in the Duffy Gymnasium on Cypress Avenue in Garden City Beach, and again Wednesday night at 6:30 for adult Bible study and our children's programs. The Chancel Choir will meet at 7:30. The youth will continue to meet in the Youth Building on our property."