St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress may be on the northwest edges of Houston, but that has not saved it from repeated flood disasters over the past few years.
In April 2016, the so-called Tax Day Floods sent water pouring into more than 1,000 homes in southeast Texas. Three of St. John’s buildings—a classroom building, the administrative offices, and the gym—were flooded badly enough that they largely could not be used. The church’s leadership decided this was a good opportunity not just to rebuild, but also to make improvements.
After much painstaking planning with a professional architect, building was set to begin in August 2017. Just then, the contracting company that St. John’s had hired to complete the renovations went bankrupt. The setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Soon after the original contracting company filed for bankruptcy, Hurricane Harvey hit, and the same three buildings at St. John’s flooded all over again. This time, several of St. John’s families also experienced flooding in their homes. For days, the senior pastor, David Bahn, couldn’t leave his house to lead worship services. “It was a paralyzing moment,” he says, “at least for a while.” Reaching out in the best way that he could, he recorded a Facebook Live video, offering prayer to the St. John’s families.
Recovery from Harvey of course took months, and St. John jumped into the fray to help those in need. Families with flooded homes received checks from St. John to help them recover. The church’s gym became a warehouse for emergency relief supplies. St. John’s members even gathered $15,000 in donations to give to a nearby church that was even harder hit by the flooding.
Through all of this, St. John itself made do with what it had. The chapel, worship center, and early childhood center had all remained dry, so adult Bible study classes met in the early childhood center and administrative offices moved into part of the chapel space. “The office staff were working at eight-foot-long white plastic tables, and my desk was set up in the cry room …. I suppose that was an appropriate choice,” Pastor David says with a wry laugh.
