In 1831, 20 years after the congregation of Harpeth Presbyterian Church started, a land-owner gave the low-lying land on Hillsboro Road next to the Little Harpeth River to the church. And until 1950, the church had just a dirt floor. “Ironically, we’re on some of the most worthless land in Williamson County,” says Jones. “But it’s priceless to us.”

What’s a little water to a 200-year-old, Civil-War-surviving church? To quote the pastor: Just one more thing.

Harpeth Presbyterian Church on Hillsboro Road just west of Brentwood took on about 2 feet of water throughout its sanctuary, hallways and offices during last May’s flood. The sanctuary reopened in November after its members, led by Pastor David Jones, worked to repair their beloved church.

We’re not talking about just the building here.

“Something like that just rocks everybody,” says Jones, who still feels a whiff of anxiety on gray days. “But when I saw the number of members who showed up while it was still flooding, I knew it would be OK.”

OK, that is, whether they had a building there or not.

With the exception of that flooded-out Sunday, church services never stopped.
“After 200 years, we might have a little chip on our shoulder about that,” Pastor Jones said with a laugh.

The church, built in 1831, withstood the Civil War. It’s also been flooded before. In the 1970s, a tree fell and blocked the Little Harpeth River and its levee blew out, says Jones.

Yet the Easter season is about renewal. And for this church of 350, renewal is a blessed word with lots of meanings.

“This Easter is a very special time for us,” says Jones, who has pastored at Harpeth for 12 years. “It’s about new life.”

A year after the flood, the church is inviting the community to celebrate its renewal and its new relationships with its neighbors in the squeaky clean sanctuary, which reopened in November. The Flood 2010: Celebrating how God provides will be the theme at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. services on Sunday. A potluck will follow at noon. Speakers from the Wildwood neighborhood and Pastor Jones will share flood stories of hope.

When the Little Harpeth River, which is right next to the church grounds, started rising on May 1, 2010, church members started filling bags with sand from the playground to stack against the signature red doors. Eventually, that effort was abandoned as the water rose and covered the sanctuary, offices and hallways in about 2 feet of water…

Read More (with pictures): http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110429/WILLIAMSON/304290074/Little-church-made-through-Civil-War-celebrates-recovery-from-flood

[Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced in this article is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]