12/19/2025
As most of you know, we have been looking for a new building for many years. We rent and love where we are located, but our building is not very safe. For 10 years we have had water pouring in through our ceiling in multiple areas when it rains or snows. We have had a professional check the roof and have been informed that there are 2 rotten roofs on the building that we rent. It would cost close to $100,000 now to fix. Honestly, we just cannot pay that to fix someone else’s building (We rent). Just this week, on several occasions, I have spent many hours cleaning up ceiling tiles that have absorbed water and broken onto or tables, chairs, floors. Doing our free meal on Saturday, we have to have people walk around a number of huge plastic tubs that are laying around to catch water that is pouring in while we are having our service.
In addition to the water pouring in, a few weeks ago, we had the foundation of our building apparently shift, causing our door frame in the back of the church to separate from the wall! We have had to rope off that exit due to fear of opening the door and having the wall collapse! This week, we noticed that the door leading to the basement where our children gather has separated from the wall and the door has jammed to the floor due to the wall shifting. Also, recently, when I went to the church to empty water out of the huge plastic tubs still catching ceiling water, I noticed that the back corner of our building has begun to crack down two separate walls. I assume this is a combination of the amount of water coming in and the foundation shift that has occurred. A few days later, I noticed that those cracks on the outside of the building had spread and widened even further. I have had it examined and it is agreed that our building is no longer safe for us to continue meeting. We have looked for other buildings in our neighborhood and found possibilities, but those doors never truly opened. The problems that we have run into with these other buildings for the past ten years are :
1. The buildings are not suited to house the ministry that we do.
2. Those that would work for us, honestly, with most rent being between $2,500 to $3,500 a month for a building that is in some cases in worse shape than ours, we just would not be a good steward of God’s money.
We sadly, with broken hearts, will be shutting The Neighborhood Church down at the end of the month. If you are a faithful financial supporter or servant, we want to again, thank you for being so good to us! There are wonderful Heavenly rewards waiting for you because of your sacrifice for us. We could not have made it these 13 years without you!
Well, that was difficult. With tears of joy from a wonderful past and tears of sadness due to a heartbreaking present, I want you to know that we love each of you so much! Our lives have been so wonderful thanks to you! In answer to the first question that most will ask: What are we going to do after TNC closes? The answer is simple; we have no idea! We have no plan “B”. What we do know is that God will guide, lead and provide for whatever the future holds! Right now, the only plan is to finish strong and faithful! I will, of course, have to find a job, so that means that I have no idea what the future holds, but as we proudly say, we do know who holds the future! We will continue our outreach in Mattydale, NY if my new work schedule allows. Past that, we have no idea! May God bless you for being so good to us and please pray for us, my family and our TNC faithful to see God working in this tough time!
