St Matthew's Demolition begins

Please pray for the people of St. Matthew’s, as demolition and debris removal on the church begins today, December 22nd. Workers are ahead of schedule and have already made progress on the portion of the lower school that was affected by the fire.

There was a brief prayer service this morning prior to the demolition. “We will offer thanks to God for all the blessings that have flowed from this holy place,” the Rev’d Craig Dalferes.

A colorful and cheerful screen shields the view of St. Matthew’s church, parish hall and lower school — all destroyed in the Nov 11th fire — for the students and staff who are outside between classes.

The St. Matthew’s family and the Houma community are of course still dealing with the tremendous loss of their historic church, parish hall and part of their school, but things are starting to settle down. Parishoners packed their temporary home at Grace Lutheran in Houma on Sunday the 14th, as everyone came together to worship and for a poignant service; a wonderful memorial service was held on Monday for both the church and the school; and Wednesday was the first day back at school, albeit a half day.

The Rev’d Craig Dalferes says that he and the entire community have been astounded at the outpouring of support they have seen. There is still no official word on what caused the fire, and the remnants of the buildings must remain untouched during the ongoing investigation. While throngs of people have volunteered to help with some sort of cleanup, the building will have to be demolished by professionals for safety reasons. Fr. Dalferes pointed out the best ways to help St. Matthew’s Church and School right now are:
1. Pray!
2. Making a donation to the relief fund that has been set up at S. Louisiana Bank.
          St. Matthew’s Relief Fund
          c/o S. Louisiana Bank
          PO Box 1718
          Houma, LA 70361
          Please include the account number in the memo section of the check: 02-0195-2.
3. Making a school- or church-specific donation, which can be identified by putting “School Fire Fund” or “Church Fire Fund” in the memo of the check.

You can check the diocesan website at edola.org for updates as they come. You can also click the purple diocesan shield at the bottom right of this web page (scroll down until you see it.)