A Welcome Return

Marco Presbyterian Church is poised to celebrate the completion of its renovated and refreshed main worship center almost five months to the day after it was damaged in a fire that resulted in extensive smoke and water damage. 

The grand reopening is set for Sunday, November 7, 2021. Services are held at 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM.

“We are inviting the community to come and join us in celebrating what God has done,” said Marco Presbyterian’s lead pastor, Scott Kerens. He said the city’s police and fire-rescue departments are also invited, “To say thank you for their professional job of getting here so quickly and helping us to put the fire out and helping us along through this process.”

The fire happened the morning of June 21, as the worship center was being readied for a funeral. 

“We were warming up all the lights. We had people in the building at 9-9:30 AM and as they were testing the lights and the sound and someone was playing piano, one (ceiling) light caught fire,” explained Kerens. “We still don’t know exactly what happened.”

He said Jean Rowles of the church’s worship team called the fire department immediately, while the tech team turned off the electricity and they all alerted the office staff to the blaze so that everyone could be evacuated. 

“The fire department and the police were here very quickly and they were very professional,” said Kerens. “They even used extreme accuracy in aiming the water so it didn’t damage everything in our tech booth.”

About $500,000 in damage was caused by the blaze, which saw molten plastic drip over equipment in the tech booth, a TV monitor and some of the worship center’s carpeting and cloth-cushioned chairs. 

Kerens described damage from the actual fire as being light. “But the smoke and water damage was extreme and widespread,” he added. “The smoke damage affected all of the ceiling tiles and insulation, the fabric in all the chairs, all the carpeting. Anything that was fabric in the room and even into the offices was affected by smoke.” 

Since the fire, services have been held in the church’s fellowship hall. 

The repairs and renovations have included removing and replacing the building’s carpeting, cleaning and repainting walls, cleaning cloth cushioned chairs and replacing damaged ceiling tiles. A previously undiscovered leak in the steeple was found as part of the work. Kerens said the leak was repaired, but it’s likely to return, so the steeple will be rebuilt and replaced next summer.

“Anywhere we could, we tried to make upgrades, even if it meant paying a little bit extra, to make things the way we wanted them,” said Kerens. 

Those changes include replacing the carpeting on the stage with wood, installing the organ in a newly created balcony loft and removing part of the wall in front of the stage.

“There were some design elements we highlighted that didn’t cost anything extra thanks to a really great designer, Clara Alber (owner of Avila Interior Design on Marco),” he added. “She put together a beautiful design. Even people who’ve been here for 20 years - this building is 20 years old - say it looks better than it ever has.” 

Aside from praising the performance of the city’s police and fire-rescue personnel, Kerens lauded the work of Alber, Naples based RR Restoration and a member of the congregation, George Buck, who coordinated the repair and renovation process. 

Kerens expressed gratitude for being on the cusp of holding services in a newly refreshed worship center. 

“After that, we’re just thrilled to see what God will do with our church,” he added. “We want to contribute to this community. We say it like this: ‘We bring hope to people with the truth of Jesus.’ So, we want to be a people who are working together for good on this island, and we want to point people to Jesus. We believe He is the one who is good and who enables us to be good, as well.”

Marco Presbyterian Church is located at 875 W. Elkcam Circle. For more information, visit marcochurch.com or call 239-394-8186.