LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — It's been years since a Lexington church's basement was under water destroying everything, and on Sunday leaders re-opened those same doors that have been closed for 25 months.
The Rosemont Baptist Church's basement was down to the studs after a water main break in July 2022 flooded the basement with 1.5 million gallons of water. Which took Servpro Lexington up to four days to clear out.
After 18 months without electricity and hundreds of hours of work transformed the soggy basement to a space with new upgrades.
"By the time I was able to get into the church, the water was up to the ceiling of the basement," recalls Randy Byzet, the Rosemont Baptist Church's business manager. "Well the first thing was to figure out how much damage there was. It was a total wipe-out."
Mary McKinney has been with the church for 25 years and talked about how excited she was to see the enhancements: "Oh, what I've seen of it is beautiful."
With the new $5 million renovation, covered by insurance except for a couple items, Pastor Schylar Fields says God gave them a path for the necessary changes. Some areas like a new youth group with a beautiful mural based off of the church's stain glass, new electricals, a new kitchen and a new elevator.
"Okay how can we use what we have and what God has blessed us with in this renovation to be more effective in serving our community," said Fields.
Byzet explains that Natalie Brockman did the murals: "The murals were from the outside, given some suggestions that we had because they are based on the stain glass in the sanctuary."
Leaders say that although it was a painful blessing, it allowed them to not only re-build the basement but also their faith in God's plans: "God is faithful, and you know, even in the difficult times that we were presented with. We may not understand what was going on, but he does have a plan and a purpose, and he's faithful through all of those things that help to build our faith."
Fields says Sunday school will occur Sunday mornings at 9:30 in the basement, alongside 6:00 p.m. groups on Wednesdays for all ages.
