RUSKIN, Fla. (WFLA) — Ruskin Methodist Church should be celebrating its 100th anniversary, but the festivities are postponed as many people deal with devastation at home.

For Pastor Tom Emigh, it’s the power of God and dedicated parishioners allowing them to continue serving the people on their mark of 100 years, even though it’s not how they imagined.

“Yesterday, my truck was out of gas,” said Emigh. “Out of the blue, a parishioner shows up with five gallons of gas and told me, ‘Pastor, a little bird told me you might need some gas where should I put it?’ And I said ‘in my truck.’”

Hurricane Helene flooded the building two weeks ago.

Then Hurricane Milton was strong enough to suck the plexiglass off church windows, but not shatter the stained glass behind them.

The Category 3 hurricane was strong enough to break down trees, rip away the carport, and crack concrete barriers.

Still, there was hope they could celebrate 100 years this Sunday.

“We had bouncy houses, we had the WWII Vehicle Heritage Association, we had cars coming from the Classic Car Club,” said Emigh. “We had hot dogs, we had games, we had people coming in and everything to celebrate our community, and give our community something to be happy about.”

Milton’s destruction ultimately forced the church to put a hold on the big milestone festivities.

“We were still going to make it. We were still going to have our celebration at church but then we found a lot of our special guests couldn’t make it, they couldn’t fly in, and they didn’t have power at their homes so we had to postpone our hundredth too.”

Through miracles and with churchgoers’ support, Pastor Emigh was able to continue on Sunday morning one of the only things that seems stable in so many lives right now, even if it’s not a centennial sermon.

“The overlying message is, don’t focus on your circumstances, focus on your goals.”

Emigh believes the centennial celebration isn’t too far away and they hope to get things back in order enough to celebrate in late November.

To keep up with the official date of the 100-year event, click here for a link to the Ruskin Methodist Church Facebook page.

The church also had a thrift store heavily damaged by the hurricane but said they hope to start accepting donations again soon so they can continue to clothe the homeless. Updates will be through their Facebook page or church services.