A community returns after Sandy

Courtesy Ronnie Myles

Rev. Delores Miller, third from right, was joined by local officials, clergy and residents at the reopening of the newly renovated Evangel Revival Community Church on May 30, more than two and a half years after Hurricane Sandy damaged the building.

Courtesy Ronnie Myles

Members of the congregation led a march from Kennedy Plaza to the church on National Boulevard.

Courtesy Ronnie Myles

City Council President Len Torres was among the speakers at a service in the church’s renovated main sanctuary.

Courtesy Ronnie Myles

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Hurricane Sandy left Evangel Revival Community Church so badly damaged that it had to be completely gutted, but the Rev. Delores Miller never lost faith.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen,” she recalled, “but I believed that God was going to intervene in some way.”

“The pastor never, ever flinched,” said her grandson, Ronnie Myles, a member of the congregation.

On May 30, the now repaired church held a rededication ceremony to mark congregants’ return home, following a procession up National Boulevard from Kennedy Plaza to the church, at 569 National Blvd. “It was a nice turnout and a beautiful day for the event,” Myles said. Construction on the building was completed earlier this year.

Local officials, including State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky, County Legislator Denise Ford and City Council President Len Torres, attended the ceremony. At the June 2 City Council meeting, Torres presented Miller with a proclamation declaring May 30 Evangel Revival Community Church Day.

“It truly is an honor to see the kind of resilience that you have shown…,” Torres said. “You represented your congregation so well and provided direction for folks that didn’t have a place to go.”

The church was shuttered immediately after Sandy due to extensive flood damage. “We were all devastated by what happened,” Miller said. “The storm … really just destroyed everything.” After gutting the building, the church had no money left for repairs, she added. According to Myles, it received no funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and did not have flood insurance. All of the renovations were made possible by donations of money, raw materials and labor.

“FEMA told us they didn’t deal in religious organizations,” Myles said, adding that the process of tearing out furniture, carpet and other ruined furnishings took an emotional toll on him. “It was more than 25 years of history,” he lamented.

Miller founded the church in 1975. She describes it as Christian but non-denominational, open to anyone in the community.