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By Holly McCray*

6:00 P.M. EST May 26, 2011 | PIEDMONT, Okla. (UMNS)

A neighbor hugs Conny Willis, right, as they sort through what remains of their homes. UMNS photos by Holly McCray. View in Photo Gallery

At the edge of this city., a welcome sign declares “Winds of Progress.”

But twisting winds blew death and devastation across Piedmont's north side in the late afternoon of May 24.

The Rev. Sam Powers, pastor of Piedmont’s First United Methodist Church, spent that night ministering to everyone he could. He even helped pull a horse out of a creek to safety.

The next day, he arrived early at church to find some of his parishioners already there. Their families and homes safe, these church members were eager to do whatever they could for tornado survivors in their community just northwest of Oklahoma City.

Among those needing aid were fellow church members. At least 12 families from First United Methodist had lost their homes.

Just two days after the deadliest tornado in U.S. records devastated Joplin, Mo., another line of twisters battered Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas and Texas.

As in Missouri and Alabama, United Methodists in the most recently pummeled states are doing what they can to pick up the pieces. They are providing neighbors with emergency provisions, salvaging whatever they can and joining together to pray and mourn lost loved ones.

“The church’s role is to try to lift up hope during this time,” Powers said. “We are Easter people. We live with the cross every day, and we realize that is part of life. But we also believe that the cross leads to life, and that belief really shines forth in times like this.”

A time to mourn

As a result of this recent round of storms, at least two people are dead in Kansas, four in Arkansas and 10 in Oklahoma.

The Rev. Sam Powers (left, in the green-striped shirt) of First United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Okla., prays with the family of Steve and Judy Ross in front of their home's remnants.
View in Photo Gallery

Among the dead was Teena Evans, a single mother in Denning, Ark., and a member of Ozark United Methodist Church.

The loss of life has personally touched many United Methodists.

Kim Fritzemeier, a member of First United Methodist Church in Stafford, Kan., was good friends with Linda Gleason and her son, Jeffrey, who both died when a cottonwood tree toppled by a tornado crushed their vehicle.

“The family was a cornerstone in the 4-H program,” Fritzemeier wrote in her church’s emailed newsletter. “The Stafford County Fair won’t be the same without them. …Please be in prayer for all their family and friends and the extended Stafford County community that is hurting from this tragic loss.”

The ordeal of one Piedmont, Okla., family that made national news also has left its mark on Christ United Methodist Church in Farmers Branch, Texas, a Dallas suburb.

Pam Capener, director of the church’s discipleship ministries, is the great-aunt of Ryan Hamil, the 3-year-old who was missing after a tornado leveled his home. The storm injured his mother and sister and claimed the life of his 15-month-old brother. Ryan Hamil’s body was discovered early May 26, the tenth confirmed storm-related death in Oklahoma.

Christ United Methodist has established a fund to help the Hamil family.

“It is beyond belief as far as dealing with this incredible tragedy,” said the Rev. Victor “Vic” Casad, the church’s pastor. “What we’re about is being there for one another and just caring and loving everyone through this. It’s a painful time, but we’re not alone.”

A time to build up

Members of Piedmont’s First United Methodist Church have been out in force since May 25 to remind storm-tossed neighbors that they are not alone.

Ward Johnson tosses a broken piece of framing wood as he helps in the salvage process at the home of his relatives, Conny and Chris Willis of Piedmont, Okla. View in Photo Gallery

“My daughter and I decided last night as we were watching the news footage that we were going to go up to the church and see what we can do to help,” said Angela Nemecek, a volunteer who helped clear rubble. “I immediately sent a note to my boss. I told him I was sorry but I can’t just come to work. This is too devastating to just go about my regular day.”
Another church member, Randy Clonts, donated a large supply of cardboard boxes to help the newly homeless save and store whatever people could find.

Other volunteers delivered sandwiches at lunchtime May 25 to homeowners sifting through damage or served food at First United Methodist Church. St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City had supplied 1,000 barbecue meals.

Powers, First United Methodist’s pastor, helped with food deliveries. Parking at the end of one street, he and a church member hoisted all they could carry of food, trash bags and new work gloves.

They walked through an unsettling landscape of mangled cars, tree remnants and driveways that led nowhere. Former brick homes were now unrecognizable heaps of debris.

Powers stopped to talk with three church families during their salvage efforts. At least in that moment, the families seemed more focused on what they were recovering than what they had lost.

An American flag, attached to a tree stump, was still waving in the breeze at the largely demolished home site of church members Chris and Conny Willis. The couple was searching the wreckage for the memory stick that contained one son’s Eagle Scout project report. Family members rejoiced that they had already recovered some treasures, including Scout medals and band awards. One excited teen hurried to show the plastic tub of DVDs he found as Powers arrived. 

Conny Willis told Powers the flute she played at church was still intact.

At another site where a house once stood, a church member brought a work crew and front-end loader to remove a wrecked car deposited by the cyclone atop the ruins of a fireplace.

Steve and Judy Ross, the owners of the ravaged home site, had left the area ahead of the storm. “We’re all right,” Steve Ross kept repeating. Powers gathered the family for a prayer.

Despite their losses, many in the community remain positive, Powers said. They know they are surrounded by people who care.

“I really do think this is where the Spirit moves,” the pastor said. “People who have been raised in the faith understand we are to reach out in compassion, and it’s great for the church to be here to organize people to help. The people I’ve talked to, the survivors, have told me how great that’s been. It’s a marvelous testimony.”

Funds for relief efforts in Oklahoma and other areas affected by the 2011 Spring Storms are being collected through the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

*McCray is the editor of the Oklahoma United Methodist Contact, a publication of the Oklahoma Annual (regional) Conference. Amy Forbus, the editor of the Arkansas United Methodist, and Heather Hahn, a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service, contributed to this story.

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