Mississippi church perseveres through heartbreak of hurricane
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A UMNS photo by Tim Tanton The Rev. Rick Brooks stands in front of the Main Street United Methodist Church steeple.
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The
Rev. Rick Brooks stands in front of the Main Street United Methodist
Church steeple, which lies across the front lawn of the church in Bay
St. Louis, Miss. Hurricane Katrina devastated the area Aug. 29, damaging
the church and parsonage. The church, though still damaged, is hosting
volunteer relief workers, and its day care is caring for 45 children.
After months of repairs and living in two trailers, the Brooks family
was able to move back into the parsonage. A UMNS photo by Tim Tanton.
Photo #06-486. Accompanies UMNS story #279. 5/10/06 |
May 10, 2006
By Tim Tanton*
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (UMNS) ? A steeple lies like
a fallen giant across the tiny lawn of Main Street United Methodist Church. It
is a conversation piece in this coastal town, one that prompts visitors to stop
their cars and take photographs.
The steeple symbolizes what churches throughout the Gulf Coast region have
undergone since Aug. 29, when Hurricane Katrina bludgeoned Southern Mississippi
and Louisiana, causing more than 1,500 deaths and leaving communities in ruins.
But Main Street United Methodist Church itself symbolizes much more. Despite the
damages the church suffered, its day care center is again busy with 45 children,
ministries are being performed, and the fellowship hall is alive with the
constant presence of volunteer relief workers from around the United States.
Cots fill the fellowship hall, and the parking lot behind the church is packed
with RVs and trucks.
The steeple is broken, but the church goes on.
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A UMNS photo by Ginny Underwood Toppled by Hurricane Katrina, Main Street United Methodist Church's steeple rests on the grass.
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Toppled
by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, the steeple of Main Street United
Methodist Church in Bay St. Louis, Miss., rests on the grass. The
hurricane damaged much of the area, including the church and parsonage.
The church, though still damaged, plays host to volunteer relief
workers, and its day care is caring for 45 children. After months of
repairs and living in two trailers, Pastor Rick Brooks and his family
were able to move back into the parsonage. A UMNS photo by Ginny
Underwood. Photo #06-488. Accompanies UMNS story #279. 5/10/06 |
Pastor Rick Brooks smiles as he shows a group of visitors around the church. He
is grateful the church wasn’t damaged more than it was, though he feels deeply
the pain of what happened to his community. One Sunday morning, while greeting
people outside the church, he glanced down Main Street and felt a sinking
feeling, a strong sense of “personal pain.” He thought for a moment that someone
else could preach that day, but the moment passed. “The Spirit helps us in our
weakness,” he says.
Much work lies ahead for the church and the town, but Brooks has faith.
“I foresee this continuing to be a vital congregation,” he says.
Churches fill key role
“The devastation of Bay St. Louis is heartbreaking,” says Bishop Hope Morgan
Ward, who leads the United Methodists in Mississippi. Though the church was
badly damaged and the parsonage ruined by storm surge, the Brooks family
continued to serve in significant ways, she says.
The Main Street Church building survived in large part because of the Old Town’s
location on a bluff. “Some floodwaters came up here, but we were kind of at the
peak of the bluff,” Brooks says.
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A UMNS photo by Tim Tanton Pastor Rick Brooks (left) greets church members Byron and Marjory Lynch, who are visiting Bay St. Louis with son Robert Lynch.
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The
Rev. Rick Brooks, pastor of Main Street United Methodist Church in Bay
St. Louis, Miss., greets church members Byron and Marjory Lynch, who
lost their home in Waveland, Miss., to Hurricane Katrina. The Lynches
have been living with a son in Charlottesville, Va., but plan on
returning to the area. Visiting with them is another son, Robert Lynch,
of Richmond, Va. A UMNS photo by Tim Tanton. Photo #06-487. Accompanies
UMNS story #279. 5/10/06 |
In the sanctuary, he points out discolored spots on the wall, cracks and other
signs of damage.
“It looked pretty rough in here,” he says. Some of the water came in through the
stained-glass windows, and the building also sustained wind damage. The church
will be getting a new roof soon.
An insurance adjuster is looking at the damages suffered through wind and storm
surge, Brooks says. “We know there will be some uninsured loss that will be
substantial.”
The United Methodist Council of Bishops’ Katrina Church Recovery Appeal is vital
to churches such as Main Street remaining in ministry. And churches like Main
Street are vital to helping coastal communities rebuild.
“If you bring the church back and the schools back, then the people are going to
move back,” says Lynn Brooks, a middle-school teacher and the pastor’s wife.
The Council of Bishops announced the appeal (http://umc.org/churchrecovery)
last fall, and the effort will be kicked off at this year’s U.S. annual
conference gatherings in May and June. The appeal fund will help congregations
such as Main Street stay on their feet, Pastor Brooks says.
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A UMNS photo by Tim Tanton Though Main Street United Methodist Church is still damaged, the day care is open and busy caring for 45 children.
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Though
Main Street United Methodist Church in Bay St. Louis, Miss., is still
damaged, the day care is open and busy caring 45 children. Hurricane
Katrina devastated the area Aug. 29, leaving the church and the
parsonage damaged. The church, though still damaged, also is hosting a
steady stream of volunteer relief workers. A UMNS photo by Tim Tanton.
Photo #06-489. Accompanies UMNS story #279. 5/10/06 |
Outside the church, Brooks sees a familiar couple walk by, and he greets them
with delight. Byron and Marjory Lynch are retirees who have been living with one
of their sons in Charlottesville, Va., since Hurricane Katrina destroyed their
beachfront home in Waveland, Miss. He is chairman of the board of trustees and
she is co-lay leader. They plan on rebuilding.
“We’re coming back,” Byron assures Brooks. “Just give us time.”
Like the Lynches, a high percentage of congregants relocated by necessity after
the storm. The church had about 520 members before Katrina, and its membership
is roughly half that now, but worship attendance is strong. Brooks actually held
a worship service in the church on the Sunday after Katrina, and five people
attended ? including Lynn. Today, some 120 people are attending services, half
of them volunteers or guests.
“There has always been a good spirit of worship here, but I would say it’s been
heightened since the storm,” Brooks says.
He has tried communicating by letter with dislocated church members. “That’s
been a hard thing as a pastor: to have so many of those names and faces gone,”
he says. “It does hurt to know ? many of them will not be back.”
Fleeing the storm
The Brooks family itself had to flee as Hurricane Katrina moved toward the
coast. The couple and their children ? Catherine, 16, and John Wesley, 10 ? took
refuge with Lynn’s parents, south of Jackson.
A few days later, Sept. 1, Rick and Lynn drove back to Bay St. Louis. As they
crossed Interstate 10 on their way south, the landscape seemed surreal, Rick
recalls.
“Once we passed I-10 ? you could tell we were in a war zone.”
Large billboards were bent over, and stores and offices were leveled, but they
found the parsonage still standing, Lynn says. “I just cried because it was
there.”
Everything inside was covered with sludge and sediment. Nearly seven feet of
water had filled the house, all of it coming in under the doors. Though many of
their belongings were lost — including Rick’s book collection, a painful loss
for him — the family was able to salvage a lot.
The Brooks lived in two trailers in the driveway until the parsonage could be
restored. One of the trailers was donated by United Methodists on the Outer
Banks of North Carolina, and the other came from a family member.
First United Methodist Church of Tupelo, Miss., played a major role in the
restoration of the parsonage, which was cleaned out by volunteer teams from
other areas of Mississippi and South Carolina.
“You just can’t pay people to do what those people came and did,” Rick says. He
describes the cleanup as “the nastiest” kind of work.
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A UMNS photo by Ginny Underwood The
Rev. Rick Brooks (left), his wife, Lynn (right), and children
Catherine, 16, and John Wesley, 10, lived in the trailer in the
background while the parsonage was undergoing hurricane repairs.
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The
Rev. Rick Brooks (left), his wife, Lynn (right), and children
Catherine, 16, and John Wesley, 10, lived in the trailer in the
background while the parsonage was undergoing hurricane repairs. Their
church, Main Street United Methodist Church in Bay St. Louis, Miss., was
also damaged by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29. The Brooks are back in
the house. The church, though still in need of repairs, is host to
volunteer recovery teams and provides day care for 45 children. A UMNS
photo by Ginny Underwood. Photo #06-490. Accompanies UMNS story #279.
5/10/06 |
At the end of January, the family moved into the remodeled house. “Keeping the
family body and soul together is so much easier with that home base,” Rick says.
Powerful connection
The family speaks with gratitude about the outpouring of support from United
Methodists around the country. Main Street Church is partnering with the Kansas
East Conference, which is providing leadership and coordinating volunteers
there.
The broader church has made a difference through the presence of volunteers,
prayers and financial support.
“We have felt the connection so powerfully,” Brooks says.
He is processing what it means to be in ministry following the hurricane. How
members understand relationships with others as the body of Christ has changed,
he says, as the church has hosted work teams and volunteers from around the
country and reached out in its own community. Members are learning what it means
to be the extended church, as well as the meaning of hospitality.
Says Brooks: “It will be virtually impossible for us not to be different.”
*Tanton is managing editor of United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.
Video Interview with The Rev. Rick
Brooks |
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