Good Friday Demolition Day for Trinity Methodist Church

On Good Friday, April 10, 2009 demolition crews took down most of the 101-year old Trinity Methodist Church sanctuary near downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa. All that stands until Monday (one day after Easter) is the church's bell tower. Inside the tower structure is a time capsule placed during the 1908 construction. The capsule will be retrieved, the tower will be pushed down, and the debris will be removed.

Trinity Methodist Church has been holding services in its administration offices adjacent to the church building. The church was severely damaged in the June 2008 flood of Cedar Rapids. The city plans a number of high water prevention methods to help keep downtown out of any future floods. With Grand Forks, ND serving as a model of how to protect a city, many Cedar Rapids officials were on hand in Grand Forks over the past weeks to see how multi-million dollar flood deterrent engineering worked when threatened.

Trinity Methodist's congregation is committed to rebuild a sanctuary on the site. All the media attention given to the building's demise is generally framed as a victim of last year's flood. However the congregation sees the situation as the rebirth theme of the Easter season. Know that.