Flooded church in recovery mode

Mar. 6—"Wow, that's all I can say is wow," Pastor Marlon Coleman said as he stepped inside Antioch Temple of Hope for the first time in more than 10 days on Wednesday.

At one end of the church lobby, massive snake-like units blow warm air into the building. Plastic tubes along the ceiling carry the warm air through church halls and up stairs. Other units pull damp air out of the building. Even with the tubes, a damp smell remains.

Third-floor water pipes burst inside the church Feb. 19, after 10 days of sub-freezing temperatures. On Feb. 16, temperatures dipped to 11 degrees below zero, according to AccuWeather. Coleman said the water lines were part of a fire suppression system and were damaged in three parts.

Coleman said SERVPRO was called to do damage restoration.

SERVPRO Production Manager John Campbell said the tubes are part of a desiccant unit.

"Basically, we're trying to keep the atmosphere and all the materials affected in there stabilized until we can come up with a plan of action," Campbell said.

Some tubes blow dry air into the building and other tubes draw the humid air out and filter it, he said.

The tubes reach into the basement, where Coleman said the church had four feet of water.

"It keeps the humidity from making things worse. It sucks all of the bad air out to keep it from spreading. And it helps keep the mold away," Coleman said. "If we didn't have this in place, we couldn't move forward to the next part of the game plan, which is demolition of areas negatively impacted by the water."

In the older part of the building — used for generations by First Presbyterian Church before the church was sold to Antioch — sustained the worst damage.

"Everything was wet. All the offices, all the classrooms, all the kitchen," Coleman said. "You can see along the walls, whatever that is, the mold."

There was enough water in the newer part of the building to require replacement of all the floors, he said, adding that the water spread 30 feet across the sanctuary's carpeted floor.

The Antioch Temple congregation, which has 125 active members, has been worshipping at St. Paul United Methodist Church since the flooding. The church also has allowed Antioch to use office space.

"We will likely be there for months, or at least until we can get into the sanctuary side of the building," Coleman said. "We don't know how long that's going to take. I'm clueless on that part."

He said two factors weigh on the congregation's return.

"One is the demolition on this side," he said, referring to the damaged wing. "But to have enough repair on the other side to have some place to worship on Sunday, what that entails, I don't know."

First Baptist Church also has allowed Antioch to use some office space, Coleman said.

"We're getting vital support from the Oklahoma Baptist State Convention," to which Antioch belongs, he said. "Other churches have volunteered to help in any way they can. The struggle we have is, while we are in this part of the process, I don't know what we need."

However, he concluded, "prayer and donations are welcome. We still have to pay the bills."