Coastal Christian Church holds Sunday Service outside after fire damages building

PINELLAS,Fla. - Pastor Jerry Rittenhouse ended Sunday service for his congregation by playing them the voicemail he awoke to at 3 a.m. last Wednesday. A Pinellas County deputy letting him know that dozens of firefighters were battling a blaze at Coastal Christian Church in Dunedin which spread to the building from a fire that sparked in a nearby dumpster.

"No one wants to wake up to that call," Pastor Rittenhouse said. "I was told that if the fire would've gone another 15 minutes, that it would not have been safe for the fire departments, and they would've just contained the fire and let it burn down." 

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. However, the church, its thrift store, and the "Sweet Peas" preschool next door still suffered intense water and burn damage. 

"We can fix this. It'll take some time," Pastor Rittenhouse added. "We're in the process of the long journey of insurances, and all that needs to be done to put the building back." 

Damage from the fire at Coastal Christian Church 

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His message on Sunday was that the building is just a building. With the help of church members and the Dunedin community, a makeshift sanctuary of tents and lawn chairs was built outside.

Music and worship filled the air as pastor Rittenhouse guided the sermon with humor and grace, as he has for the last 20 years. 

"He's done a great job, taking it stride by stride," Church member Scott Hacking said of Rittenhouse." Bad things happen, and you just have to take the next step forward and just keep going. That's what we're doing." 

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The preschool does plan on reopening this week.

Pastor Rittenhouse said Sunday services will continue weekly, but location and times may change. Members have started a church FIRE FUND for donations, and anyone interested in donating can do so by clicking here.

Dunedin fire rescue is investigating the cause of the dumpster fire. Right now, they don’t believe it was arson.