NEWS FEATURE: Churches Struggle to Recover, and Help Others, After Hurricane Charley

c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When members of Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., came forward for Communion two Sundays after Hurricane Charley, they were each given a bottle of water to share with someone who, like them, was still hurting after the storm. The symbolic act illustrated an ongoing reality. Grace […]

c. 2004 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) When members of Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., came forward for Communion two Sundays after Hurricane Charley, they were each given a bottle of water to share with someone who, like them, was still hurting after the storm.

The symbolic act illustrated an ongoing reality. Grace United, which lost three roofs and several offices, must not only help itself but help others recover in the aftermath of the hurricane that slammed Florida on Aug. 13. The same is true for dozens of other houses of worship.


As of Wednesday (Aug. 25), denominational sources said 78 United Methodist churches have filed insurance claims, 32 Southern Baptist churches were damaged, and four Church of the Nazarene congregations sustained serious damage. Based on an assessment of two dozen communities completed 12 days after the storm, Church World Service, an ecumenical humanitarian agency, had documented damage to 57 houses of worship.

“That’s just scratching the surface of what we think is the damage” to buildings that house congregations, said Leslie Remaly, disaster response and recovery liaison for Church World Service, which has its headquarters in New York City.

While relief organizations are addressing many other matters _ managing donations, coordinating volunteers and identifying those most in need _ the state of churches, synagogues and temples is a concern because their leaders and congregants often assist in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Now, some have three levels of concern _ their own homes, the plight of their community and the needs of fellow worshippers.

“This is probably the greatest number of churches impacted in a disaster we’ve seen since the wildfires in California,” Remaly said. “It becomes an important part of ministry to minister to those pastors so that they hang in there.”

Since Hurricane Charley, Rabbi Solomon Agin has not been able to gather the 150 families of Temple Shalom in Port Charlotte, Fla., for worship. Although the sanctuary _ recently refurbished with a hurricane-proof roof _ is intact, they have no water or power there. The synagogue grounds will require a “massive cleanup” with heavy trucks and chain saws.

“We suffered damage in our religious school that will probably have to be taken down to its shell and rebuilt,” the leader of the Reform congregation said in an interview.

The Rev. Jim Morsch, national field director of Nazarene Disaster Response, said despite substantial damage to church roofs, the four Church of the Nazarene congregations managed to hold services right after the storm.


“Sunday morning, they were worshipping in them,” he said. “The roofs in some of the places were open. … They had worship services even though they did not have electricity.”

Even as some of the almost 1,400 Southern Baptist volunteers have helped the Nazarenes cope with tree removal, 250 Nazarene volunteers from near and far, in turn, have gone out in “chain-saw gangs” and helped others with minor repairs.

Barbara Denman, spokeswoman for the Florida Baptist Convention, said three of the 32 damaged Southern Baptist churches were completely destroyed.

“Many of them are finding either buildings on the grounds to worship in or just gathering on the lawn if they need to,” she said.

Affected clergy speak of the need to go on, despite toppled steeples and damaged stained-glass windows.

The Rev. Jorge Acevedo, senior pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Coral, said the church had about half of its usual attendance on the first Sunday after the storm, but it was back to the normal level of about 1,500 by Aug. 22.


On that day, they had a “service of hope and help,” during which congregants who came forward and kneeled for Communion were handed water bottles featuring a sticker with Jesus’ words about how the thirsty should “come unto me and drink.”

Acevedo, spiritual shepherd of many congregants who had lost homes or roofs, said he prayed that they would be “instruments of hope and help” and remember to give of themselves at this difficult time.

“We need to take care of ourselves but we also need to be givers,” said Acevedo.

MO/PH END RNS

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!