"God moved in the hearts of
the people at Maple Park"

Yesterday the young man who started the fire that destroyed Maple Park's sanctuary pled guilty in Superior Court. He's being sentenced to three months in jail and his restitution to Maple Park will be around $13,000. Although the damage was more like 3/4 of a million and the rebuild an additional 3/4 of a million, his plea brings to a close this chapter in the life of Maple Park. It was a long chapter.

For the last 2 ½ years our ministries have been extremely limited by available meeting space. Leadership resources were stretched beyond the normal operational demands as building committees, design committees, stewardship committees, and finance committees demanded immediate attention. We were designing as we built. Financial resources were taxed. Patience with certain city officials demanded spiritual intervention. Each Sunday our worship space reminded us that we were in the middle of construction. Hundreds, no, thousands of hours were expended in volunteer labor adding great value to a building that we hoped would in some small way reflect a bit of the glory of God.

We were told, and we expected, this project would take a toll on the congregation and its leadership. It did. Time, energy, and resources were stretched at times to the breaking point. That chapter is closing and a new chapter is being written.

God moved in the hearts of the people at Maple Park. Not only did he put resources into the hands of our congregation, he moved them to offer them up to him. We have discovered anew that in the area of stewardship of all our resources, it is more blessed to give than to receive. This fall we moved into our new facility and it is truly a remarkable building. Our first Sunday was a celebration and a thanksgiving. People wept as they sang Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of Creation. The Amen was sounding from the people again as we exhorted each other to join in glad adoration.

Ministries have been restarted, some have been revived, and some are starting for the first time. During these stressful times we continued with our mission efforts at home and in other places around the world. New people are discovering this church that they watched come up from the ground. New talent, new energy, new life is breathed into the congregation. God has raised a church up from the ashes to bear testimony to his glorious name. God will write the final chapter of this story but we've had, and continue to have, the privilege of being a part of this wonderful thing he is doing.

Pastor Dave Overland, Maple Park Church in Lynnwood, WA