Denominational Bodies Evaluate Damage to Local Churches, Give Support
Nine days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Monday morning, four of the largest evangelical denominations are just beginning to understand the devastation to its churches across the four states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Nine days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Monday morning, four of the largest evangelical denominations are just beginning to understand the devastation to its churches across the four states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
"There are churches that don't exist anymore," said Jeff Nene, Communications Director of Convoy of Hope to Family News in Focus. "It's the worst thing I've ever seen in this country."
Over 36 churches have been damaged in the South Louisiana Presbytery of Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). That is nearly 50 percent of that presbytery's churches. In addition, the storm damaged six other churches in the Mississippi Presbytery and caused widespread destruction to Florida's churches, according to the Presbyterian News Service.
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Among the many churches destroyed in Mississippi, the 156 year old Episcopal Church of the Redeemer leaves a haunting image. What remains of the English-style red brick chapel with stain-glass windows is now a battered white cross surrounded by fragments of palm trees and brick walls. The white cross had previously hung proudly above the chapel's stain glass windows outside the church walls.
Rev. Michael B. Mann, interim general presbyter of South Louisiana Presbytery, exclaimed, “[It is] a tragedy of Biblical proportions."
“The amount of death and human loss is hard to begin to imagine,” said Rev. Jean Marie Peacock to the Presbyterian News Service. Peacock’s home was in New Orleans and among the 80 percent of which is now under water.
Similarly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) also lost many churches to Hurricane Katrina. Christ the King Lutheran Church in Kenner, La., is submerged by five to eight feet of water based on aerial pictures. Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Chalmette, La., and Grace Lutheran Church in New Orleans are both under water, and Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Peace Lutheran Church, both in Louisiana are damaged.
The United Methodist Church (UMC), the second largest denomination, also reported telltale signs that many churches have been destroyed.
Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of UMC’s Mississippi Area said, “From what we hear, the water was all the way to I-10, and we have a lot of churches between I-10 and the gulf."
For the past nine days, church headquarters have been frantically trying to find out news about the local churches in states hit by the hurricane. However, they cannot accurately assess the damage because phone lines are down and therefore communication in the devastated areas is nearly impossible
“No one knows the full status of homes and churches,” said Rev. Paul J. Blom, bishop of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, Houston.
Although the ELCA is not certain of the conditions of Lutheran churches in the disaster areas, it estimated that as many as 10 of the 19 churches in Louisiana were destroyed.
The denominations have yet to know the full extent of the damage to their own churches, but are already strategizing ways to help the nation.
Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation’s largest protestant denomination, recently unveiled its new relief plan called “Adopt-A-Church." The program allows an unharmed congregation to support a destroyed church.
Moreover, reports indicate that the four largest evangelical denominations have been successful in raising hurricane relief funds. As of Thursday SBC reportedly received over $800,000 in donations, while UMC raised over $570,000.
In addition, PCUSA received $500,000 of its requested $10 million of the general relief funds from One Great Hour of Sharing Offering, and the ELCA Domestic Disaster Response did not release a figure yet, but promises to offer "hardship grants" to the needy.
Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse issued a challenge to the denominations to make a "dent" in this problem by taking in the refugees, who now number over 500,000 people, the largest number of refugees in America since the Civil War.
“There needs to be a challenge now to our churches. I know individual churches have done this, but this needs to be organized by the denominations," said Graham. “If every church in the Southeast took in 10 families, this would put a big dent in this problem."
In the following weeks of Hurricane Katrina, churches plan to send more clean-up and assessment volunteers to the devastated area. They are also beginning to formulate plans and look for partners in efforts to rebuild homes after the assessment process.
