Mississippi church perseveres through heartbreak of hurricane

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.



Toppled by Hurricane Katrina, Main Street United Methodist Church's steeple rests on the grass. A UMNS photo by Ginny Underwood.

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.
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.

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.
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.

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. A UMNS photo by Ginny Underwood

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.

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.