Katrina Revives Church Community

By Audrey Barrick, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, February 14, 2006

A sense of community is taking a stronger foothold among churches and Christian groups in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The devastation that had scattered so many people across the nation has helped the largest disaster responders and the affected – the churches – knit a tighter body of Christ.

"Being with the First Street United Methodist Church [in New Orleans] in the first weeks of the New Year gave me a better picture of what it is to be in community together," said the Rev. Kelvin Sauls, pastor of Downs Memorial United Methodist Church in Oakland, Calif., according to the United Methodist News Service. "You can see people who can relate to Jim Crow, the civil rights movement. Our African-American community here in California and in New Orleans went through all that together. We need to say that 'we are here with you now.' Nothing can replace the ministry of presence."

Downs Memorial had sent out a team of volunteers to the oldest African-American United Methodist church in New Orleans after the hurricane took its toll on the city in August. First Street lost its stained-glass windows and steeple in the disaster, but in the recovery stage, gained a new sense of mission and a larger congregation.

Before Katrina, there were 75 worship attendants, according to the Rev. Lance Eden, pastor of First Street. Now, the church has nearly 175 "and many of them are people who had not been to church before."

"We were a dying church, struggling to figure out what mission was," he said. "Katrina changed that."

Such community and mission efforts were also seen in the new partnership between the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Habitat for Humanity International. They recently joined in a collaborative effort to build homes for the storm-affected families. As many as 100 homes for the "Love Thy Neighbor" project are planned to be built in the Gulfport and Houston, Texas.

"The NAACP-Habitat partnership will play an integral role in the resurrection of these devastated communities," said NAACP President and CEO Bruce Gordon in a released statement. "From the time Katrina struck, the NAACP’s goal has been to extend a helping hand to our brothers and sisters in their time of need."

Sauls expressed concern, however, as the city has lost much of its black population. Most of the returning residents, according to a Brown University sociologist, have been people from the white population. He said African Americans have been absent from the frontlines of mission opportunities.

Sauls is calling the African-American church to raise a voice and take a stand for fellow brothers and sisters in the rebuilding of the city.