Help sought for flooded churches and communities in the Midwest
By Jerry Van Marter, Presbyterian News Service, August 30, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Reports from the upper Midwest indicate that Presbyterian churches in John Knox and Maumee Valley presbyteries were the hardest hit by last week’s massive flooding.
Photo by Eric Moyer
Many northern Ohio cities are coping with high water. Dennis Sanders, communications specialist for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area said Aug. 24 that some congregations and church members in the southern Minnesota presbytery “are dealing with flooded basements, but not much more.”
No requests for assistance have been received by the presbytery from any of its churches.
The situation is worse in John Knox Presbytery, based in Richland Center, Wisc. Several communities in that presbytery were hit very hard, according to the Rev. Ken Meunier, the presbytery’s transition associate executive presbyter.
In a letter dated Aug. 22, Meunier summarized the situation in the presbytery:
“The major areas hit by this most recent disaster include the southeast Minnesota area – affecting the Rushford, Lewiston, Utica, Winona and Chatfield churches (along with the communities of La Crescent, Hokah and Houston); the Richland Center, Wisconsin, area (including the communities of Viola, Readstown, rural Viroqua, Chaseburg and Desoto where there are not any Presbyterian churches); and the Soldiers Grove and Gays Mills communities, which don’t have Presbyterian churches, but are communities many of you pass through to get to the Presbytery Center.
“John Knox Presbytery is working closely with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to assess the damage and provide relief as needed. At least five churches in John Knox Presbytery – four in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin – have been identified as having suffered extensive damage: Pioneer Presbyterian Church in Chatfield, Minn.; First Presbyterian Church in Lewiston, Minn.; United Church in Muscoda, Wisc.; First Presbyterian Church in Rushford, Minn.; and First Presbyterian Church in Utica, Minn.
“In northern Ohio, nine counties were declared a disaster area and the downtown areas of Findlay, Ottawa and Shelby were inundated by the rampaging Blanchard River. The offices of Maumee Valley Presbytery, which encompasses the nine counties, are in Findlay.
Maumee Valley executive Hilary Shuford said, “The areas along the rivers are devastated. The sheer area covered by water was very large,” she told the Presbyterian News Service in an Aug. 27 interview, “though the waters have receded now.”
Shuford said a headline in The Toledo Blade read that the eyes of the nation are on this area “but, in these days, I’ve become so aware that the eyes and hearts of Presbyterians are on us as well.”
Shuford said she was “overwhelmed” by the immediate responsiveness of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, which has sent four disaster specialists to northern Ohio. Shuford, the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance workers and a couple dozen other presbytery leaders began meeting Aug. 27 to begin looking at long-term recovery and coordinate their response to the tragedy. The group also is working closely with the Red Cross and United Way.
Photo by Marvin Nauman/FEMA
Floodwater-damaged household belongings lay piled up ready to be hauled to the dump. One immediate need, Shuford said, is school space for children.
“School was just getting ready to start and we’ve got to get our children into school,” she said. Public and private schools are working with area churches to find enough usable classroom space to open classes for the fall.
“The immediate needs are being addressed,” Shuford said, “but the emotional and spiritual needs will go on and on.”
Findlay’s First Presbyterian Church has a strong Stephen Ministry, she said, which will be employed to meet hurting residents, and the local ministerial associations also are organizing to coordinate pastoral care.
“One of the most important things that we can and are doing is to stand together in prayer – to literally be the Body of Christ with people,” Shuford said. “The Synod of the Covenant and its presbyteries and congregations are reaching out to partner with us.
“I’m awed by the response,” she said. “But that’s who we are – we’re connectional – and I feel blessed by God even in all this devastation.”
Those wishing to contribute to the relief effort – Account DR#000015 – “Midwest Flooding” – may do so through normal church channels; by going online to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Web site; by calling PresbyTel at (800) 872-3283; or by mailing a check to Presbyterian Church (USA), Central Receiving Service, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396.
Jerry Van Marter is coordinator for the Presbyterian News Service. This article originally appeared on the Web site of the Presbyterian News Service. It is reprinted here by permission.