March 1943
War-Time Church Building for W ar Needs
By EARL KIRK W YM A N Santa Ana, California
leaders got their feet wet (Joshua 3). With full recognition of the unusual, problems that lay ahead, and trusting the Lord to undertake on their behalf, the committee unanimously decided to go forward. Those strongest in faith hardly could have anticipated the supernatural ways in which God was to take care of the problems. The incidents re counted are typical of many more. Months earlier, a local lodge relin-, quished its quarters arid offered its furnishings for sale. Calvary Church bought these at a “bargain” price, being particularly interested in seats, carpets, and drapes. Included In the lot of furnishings were several heat ing units of an excellent type. Now it is not usual to purchase heating equipment prior to the time when it is determined what type of building is to be constructed.' But these units have fitted the requirements perfectly. Moreover, it is now impossible to buy them at any price. And occupancy of the building would have been impossi ble without them. Calvary Church peo ple are confident that the Lord planned this.
The government imposed restrictions on building in order that there might be no scarcity of materials for the war effort, and in the church group there was no unwillingness to cooperate whole-heartedly in this, matter. „ On the other hand, the war gave to Calvary Church a new opportunity that emphasized the imminent need of a church home. The establishment of military bases in the Santa Ana district waS bringing thousands of service men into the community. There was much, prayer on the part of Calvary Church people. The oppor tunity of a lifetime was knocking at the door, and the limited use for which the rented quarters were avail able made it impossible to meet that opportunity adequately. Early Developments The building committee met on a certain night in April. One of the members brought a clipping from that evening’s newspaper reporting drastic new restrictions against building. The committee spent time in prayer. Some one recalled that the waters of Jordan were not parted until the
OU CAN’T build a church in times like these!” Calvary Church, Santa Ana, California, had met for ten years in rented quarters. Then in June, 1941, property was -purchased for a church home, and members thrilled at the prospect of occupying their own build ing. Presently a building committee was appointed and 'went to work. The group considered the church’s particu lar needs and drew up tentative plans. They also discussed suggestions for financing the project. Committees visited other churches and studied them for usable ideas. One such visit was made on Decem ber 7. On thè same day the Japanese visited Pearl Harbor with quite an other motive. After that, everything was different. It had been hòped that actual construction could be started in the spring, but now it appeared dpubtful whether the church congre gation could undertake any construc tion at all. Calvary Church, Santa .Ana, Calif. Photograph by Gibson-NaUlr
Made with FlippingBook HTML5