POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Six weeks after a tornado hit the Kathleen community, a church damaged by the storm is ready to have services in its worship hall again.

• Mt Tabor Baptist Church to reopen worship hall
• The church was damaged in a storm six weeks ago
• Parts of the church still need to be fixed

Despite the front porch and wall to the welcome center needing to be fixed, the pastor of Mt. Tabor Baptist Church said the worship hall is safe to enter.

“Our church is strong. The people in it are committed and dedicated people and we are ready to see what god is going to do,” Pastor Matt Gilmore said.

Insurance money will cover repairs on the church building. The roof has a tarp and is set to be repaired in January. The church is accepting bids to fix the front porch and wall.

Some of the windows are boarded up too.

“We lost two stained glass windows,” Gilmore said.

The youth center is totally gutted. It had holes in the roof.

“Water came down the ceiling and ran down the walls. It was like there was a water feature in the wall,” Gilmore said.

The church’s ministry center where it housed its food bank was destroyed by the storm.

Gilmore doesn't think insurance money will cover rebuilding it.

On top of those expenses, the church learned from code enforcement it’d have to buy a water tank in case there was a fire in the food bank.  The price tag for that is at least $100,000.

“Our goal is to hopefully, in the next six months or so, nine months, to have something permanent out there but we have to overcome the water tank issue and make sure we have enough money to build whatever building we decide to build out there,” Gilmore said.

For now they're serving food out of a pod donated by Kathleen Middle School.

Despite the devastation, Gilmore said some good has come out of it.

“We got a check from Mississippi. A little church that had been through a lot knew what we were going through and said we want to bless you,” Gilmore said.

Services at Mt. Tabor Baptist Church are at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

The church is also having a free community outdoor concert featuring the Kathleen High School band on December 7. Free hot dogs, chips and drinks will be served.