Marco United Church Supports Sanibel Church

On May 7th, Diana Day, moderator at the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ, attended the worship at the United Church of Marco Island (UCMI) and accepted a check from their Easter Offering Collection for $25,000. This was the single largest holiday offering in the history of UCMI, according to UCMI’s Missions Committee.

Diana Day was very moved by this generous gesture and remarked, “I can't even express how grateful we are. It's a smaller island, it's been devastated, but it's getting better, and they've cleaned up a lot of the garbage. The members of the church are very, very grateful, and we appreciate this."

Reverend Dr. Mark Williams, Pastor of UCMI added, “Since Hurricane Ian, Sanibel United Congregational Church has been in the process of rebuilding their lives, their sanctuary, and their office space for staff. In 1 Corinthians 16: 1-4, Paul spoke to the church in Corinth about helping the Christians in Jerusalem who were hurting. A collection ensued. United Church’s Easter offering in 2023 echoed this story in scripture as we wanted to help another church through tough times.”

“In our day and age, a church giving to another church is rare,” said Reverend Williams. “After all, we live in a world where competition and self-aggrandizement are the norm. This gift speaks to the awesome power of what can happen when churches work in collaboration. Indeed, the selflessness of Christ inspires us to give in ways that are truly counter-cultural.”

According to UCMI’s Missions Committee, they felt that “focusing the Easter Offering on supporting a ‘sister church’ in helping to rebuild after the destruction was important and would be well supported by the congregation. While we may have the hurt of such a destruction, we were blessed to have a place to come and worship and join fellowship.  Sanibel UCC will not have that until they rebuild. In the meantime, Sanibel UCC is still giving back to its own community in support, which shows the heart of its Congregation.”

Sanibel Island is a barrier island, very similar to Marco Island. It is three miles at its widest and connected to mainland Fort Myers by a causeway. Hurricane Ian brought 130+ mph winds and a reported surge of up to 12 feet. 

From chaos to a new congregational life - according to Sanibel UCC’s monthly newsletter, the Church staff is working from home. The church has been closed to its 400+ members and has taken a temporary home at the Refuge Church in Fort Myers.

According to their monthly update, the church property did sustain significant damage; many roof shingles were blown off, allowing water intrusion into the sanctuary and the lower level was basically destroyed by storm surge. With seven months past Ian, the Congregation is slowly moving forward with quotations, debris and vegetation clean-ups, and rebuilding plans thanks to a dedicated rebuilding team.