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A UMNS Report
By Heather Hahn*

4:00 P.M. EST April 27, 2011

The Rev. Pat Polis explains how a 100-year-old oak tree fell on Washington Pike United Methodist Church, damaging the sanctuary. A UMNS photo by Annette Spence.
View in photo gallery

Nearly 15 members were taking down Easter decorations inside Washington Pike United Methodist Church when above the din of the storm, they heard an ominous “cra-a-ack.”

An enormous, century-old oak tree, uprooted by the storm, had crashed onto the church — caving in part of the roof, shattering windowpanes and sending water pouring into the sanctuary. Fortunately, no one was injured.

“If it had fallen 10 feet to the left, it would have fallen on the wall and probably caved that in,” said the Rev. Pat Polis, the church’s pastor. “But it hit in the corner where the building’s structure is strongest. We’re very pleased and thankful to the Lord.”

The Knoxville, Tenn., church is just one of many United Methodist congregations across the Midwestern and Southern United States left battered by April’s severe winds and flooding.

United Methodists are responding with cleaning buckets, helping hands and an enduring faith in God who brings new life even after life’s most brutal storms.

Polis expects even with insurance, it will take his 800-member church many months and a lot of money to restore its building and replace water-damaged electronic equipment.

However, since the tree toppled at about 6:30 p.m. April 25, Polis said, journalists, curiosity-seekers and well-wishers have filled the church parking lot. The pastor predicts church attendance on Sunday may surpass Easter numbers.

“God can take what was meant for bad, and make good out of it,” Polis said. “And that’s what we’re praying for.”

Record-breaking month

The federal Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., has received reports of more than 700 tornadoes this month as of April 26.

Workers assess the damage to the roof at Washington Pike United Methodist church in Knoxville, Tenn. A UMNS photo by Annette Spence. View in photo gallery

Those sightings are not confirmed twisters and may include multiple reports of the same funnel cloud. Nevertheless, many meteorologists already expect that this month will beat the record of 274 confirmed tornadoes in April 1974.

This year’s storms have left a destructive wake in two dozen states and affected some 150 million Americans. At least 60 storm-related deaths have been reported, and brutal weather could still be in the forecast. The U.S. tornado season usually does not peak until May and June.   

The United Methodist Committee on Relief, the denomination’s relief agency, is already working with annual (regional) conferences to assess damage and recruit volunteers.

The agency has released emergency grants to a number of affected conferences, including one such grant on April 26 to Arkansas, where 11 people have died in the past two days from storm-related injuries.

The Rev. Tom Hazelwood, who coordinates U.S. disaster response for UMCOR, said he and his colleagues are “calling conferences to see what they need.”

Eventually, some storm-ravaged areas will need volunteer teams to help clean up, he said, but that may have to wait for roads to reopen and emergency workers to finish search-and-rescue operations.

For now, he urges people to pray, make donations and assemble cleaning buckets for those affected by flooding.

Members of New Zion United Methodist Church in Tushka, Okla., listen to a devotional reading during Easter sunrise service. The church suffered roof damage and lost a member to a tornado 10 days before Easter. A UMNS photo courtesy of the Rev. Daniel Ramey.

“We are in this for the long haul, thanks to the extravagant generosity of the United Methodist people,” Hazelwood said. “The people of our church are always willing to give of their time and their resources to help people hurt by storms.”

Prayers for resurrection

In tiny Tushka, Okla., about 20 members gathered for a somber Easter sunrise service at New Zion United Methodist Church. Ten days earlier, a tornado killed long-time member Sammie Dement and left her husband, Leo, the church’s guitar player and board of trustees chairman, in critical condition.

The congregation of mostly retirees was exhausted from cleanup and still grieving the loss of a friend.

The Rev. Daniel Ramey, the church’s pastor, used his sermon to remind worshippers that out of Christ’s suffering the new faith of Christianity was born.

“What came out of a week of tragedy was triumph over sin and death,” Ramey said. “We have certainly gone through our week of tragedy, but if we follow Christ’s example, we’ll come out in many ways better than we were.”

Donations for UMCOR’s response to the spring tornados can be made through its U.S. disaster response fund.

*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contributors to this story also include Annette Spence of the Holston Annual (regional) Conference and Holly McCray of the Oklahoma Conference.

News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.