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Katrina appeal ?solidifies connection’ across church, bishop says
May 24, 2006
A UMNS Report
By Tim Tanton*
For United Methodists in South Alabama and West Florida, when you talk about
hurricane recovery, you’re not talking about one storm.
Hurricane Katrina, which attacked the Gulf Coast
Aug. 29, was the fifth named storm to strike the area in 11 months. Bishop
Larry Goodpaster,
who leads the
United Methodist Church’s Alabama-West Florida Area, says the cumulative
effect of all those storms is what makes recovery so trying.
“We’re looking at three to five years of disaster recovery and
rebuilding, provided no other storm comes our way,” he says.
The next hurricane season, which begins June 1,
is looming large. “So
we’re hoping and praying that we don’t have to do this again, but
our track record for the last year and a half has not been real good,” he
says.
To help the churches of the Alabama-West Florida
Area, as well as Mississippi and Louisiana, rebuild their ministries, the
United
Methodist Council of Bishops
has launched the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal. The appeal, being promoted
at this year’s annual conference gatherings, will raise money for rebuilding
churches, re-equipping congregations for ministry and paying pastors’ salaries.
“ The Katrina appeal really just solidifies that ? connection we
have across the church,” Goodpaster says.
United Methodist Communications has produced a
video that is being shown at U.S. annual conference gatherings in May and
June. The
video “provides
a visual story” of the struggle and commitment of the coastal congregations
to rebuild, says the Rev. Larry Hollon, top staff executive of the communications
agency.
Good news, bad news
The good news from Alabama-West Florida is that
congregations have remained pretty much intact, so the area won’t be using any money from the appeal
to pay pastors’ salaries, Goodpaster says. In contrast, members of congregations
along the coast in Louisiana and Mississippi remain scattered across the country
following their evacuations.
Getting a handle on the dollar amount of damage
is an inexact art. “It
keeps going up,” Goodpaster says. From Katrina, “we’re probably
looking at $3-$4 million.”
About half of those losses — $1.5 million to $2 million — are
uninsured, he says. “Unfortunately, a lot of those churches didn’t
have adequate insurance.”
Katrina destroyed one church in the conference,
Coden (Ala.) United Methodist. Everything was wiped away — the parsonage,
sanctuary, education and fellowship areas.
In addition, about a dozen others suffered damages of $500,000 and up, according
to the bishop. Those include the church in Bayou La Batre, Ala., where the
new parsonage sustained roof damage.
The dozen churches hit by Katrina are in addition
to the 70 or 80 churches that were already recovering from previous storms,
Goodpaster
says. Hurricane
Ivan, for example, struck almost every church in the Pensacola (Fla.) District — about
50 to 60 buildings — in 2004. Dennis retraced Ivan’s path last
year, and Hurricane Cindy and Tropical Storm Arlene brought more rain to the
area.
Fortunately, no United Methodists in the Alabama-West Florida Conference perished
in the storm, the bishop said.
Permanent office
Given the steady occurrence of hurricanes in the
area, the Alabama-West Florida Area’s disaster recovery center is “looking like a permanent office,” Goodpaster
says.
The Alabama-West Florida congregations have been “doing multifaceted
disaster ministry,” he says. While dealing with their own damages, the
United Methodist Church has been serving evacuees from the hard-hit coastal
areas and encouraging volunteer teams to go to Louisiana and Mississippi to
help.
Likewise, Goodpaster says he is grateful for the help that the rest of the
denomination has shown to his area following the hurricanes.
Before Katrina, the Alabama-West Florida Area’s vision had been to cultivate
vital congregations, which includes reaching out and helping others. Goodpaster
says Katrina hasn’t changed that. “It really hasn’t changed
our focus. It’s crystallized it and helped us live it out.”
Information on the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal
is available at http://umc.org/churchrecovery. Donations can be made online
or designated
for Bishops’ Appeal #818-001
and sent to an annual conference treasurer.
Says Hollon: “This appeal is important because
it will provide the financial resources for local congregations to recover
their
mission and ministry.
“The congregations in the storm-affected states are heroic in their
efforts to continue their ministry under these difficult conditions,” he
says. “Many are experiencing new life and new vision.
“As a connected community of faith we must
stand with them.”
*Tanton is managing editor for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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