CHALMETTE, La. — The hum of dehumidifiers fills the space where Pastor Chris Lodriguss usually preaches at Tabernacle Church Chalmette on Paris Road.
“Oh yeah, this is just the beginning,” said Pastor Lodriguss, standing on the soaked carpet of his two-story church’s main room.
It’s a new beginning for the pastor forced, for now, from his pulpit by Louisiana’s unforgiving weather.
Although the church dodged the deadly tornado that tore through neighboring Arabi last Tuesday, Wednesday’s powerful winds peeled back the metal roof on one side of the church.
“We were in the middle of our Hurricane Ida repairs,” said Pastor Lodriguss. He says roofers were still at the church, working on the roof in the front of the building, when the roof on one side blew wide open.
Lodriguss was able to come to the church and rescue a few things, like the band’s personal instruments, but went back home, out of harm’s way, before the weather worsened.
He watched on security cameras as water poured into his church through the gaping holes in the ceiling. It even soaked through to the first floor, where ceilings in childrens’ gathering rooms will need to be entirely replaced.
“I saw the water coming through the light fixtures, the LED lights and things like that. My first thought was, I hope there’s no short. I hope we don’t get a fire on top of this,” he said.
After the rain stopped, around 10 P.M., Lodriguss came back to assess the damage.
“Laugh or cry, you just do one of the two. So, I had my pastoral team last night and we were honestly just laughing at it. Because at this point, what else? What else are you going to do?”
What else? But a new beginning. It’s something this pastor is used to.
“And we just had a flood here in January of 2021,” Lodriguss said as he walked through the church.
Since taking his position in 2020, his church has been damaged four times by things out of his control. First came minor damage from Hurricane Zeta. Then, in January 2021, he says a faulty toilet overflowed 5-thousand gallons of gray water throughout the church.
Then, Hurricane Ida blew holes in the roof. Those repairs were still being made when Wednesday night’s storms set them back to square one.
But Lodriguss says it hasn’t shaken his faith.
“In a really strange way, my faith is stirred,” he said. “This is literally an opportunity for Him to take a mess and make it a miracle.”
“We’re just moving forward,” he said. “This is just a chance for Him to show off, and me to have a front-row seat. So, I’m excited about that.”
For this pastor, the bright blue sky now visible from the inside is a sign of God’s light.
Pastor Lodriguss will soon figure out how much insurance will help pay for the repairs, but the damage is extensive. Click here if you would like to help, you’ll find a donation page for his church.