Bishop Wills speaks from experience when he comments on the August 26th Katrina Recovery Appeal

A special offering is scheduled to be taken in United Methodist churches on August 26, 2007. The United Methodist Bishop’s Katrina Recover Appeal acknowledges that a great deal remains to be done in Mississippi and Louisiana as recovery continues from hurricane and flood damage. This particular appeal focuses on rebuilding United Methodist church presence along the Gulf so that the church can continue to meet the spiritual and emotional needs, sometimes even the physical needs, of persons whose lives and property were battered by the storm.

Bishop Richard J. Wills is a strong supporter of the Appeal, and he speaks from the experience of a Florida pastor living through the aftermath of an earlier storm, Hurricane Andrew. Wills recently said, “I hope our churches will take a special offering on August 26 for the Bishops’ Katrina Church Recovery. I know from personal experience, with my family, that hurricane Andrew took a good 5 years of recovery work."

“From that experience,” he adds, “I know that now is the time we need to continue to do the work of ‘recovery.’ Hurricane Katrina no longer in the headlines, yet there continues to be much work to be done. The Bishops’ Hurricane Katrina Church Appeal will help with the recovery work so desperately needed by the churches in that area. I thank all congregations for whatever they can do to help rebuild our churches in these devastated areas."

This is no idle request from the Bishop – the Cabinets of both the Tennessee and Memphis Annual Conferences are heading to Mississippi at the end of September to help with recovery work on behalf of the Nashville Area.

The storm is over. The calm has come. But work remains to be done before United Methodist churches in Louisiana and Mississippi can meet the growing needs of their traumatized communities. All United Methodists are urged to open hearts and wallets to the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal (#818-001). Donations of money and service will help to:
.Renovate and reopen hurricane-damaged United Methodist churches, parsonages and other facilities.
.Provide skilled professionals as a labor force.
.Grow congregations where memberships have declined.
.Reestablish community-outreach ministries.
.Train new lay leadership and rebuild church infrastructure.
.Provide salaries for support staff (including associate pastors, church musicians, Christian education directors and others).

Congregations may respond in three ways:

1. Donate online or through the Bishop’s Katrina Church Recovery Appeal (#818-001) special offering on Aug. 26, 2007.
2. Form congregation-to-congregation partnerships with churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama-West Florida.
3. Send skilled workers such as electricians, plumbers, drywall hangers, finish carpenters, painters, landscapers and others to assist with rebuilding. Also needed are volunteers in church music, Christian education and evangelical outreach.

To go directly to the "donate on line" website click on the following web address:
https://www.kintera.org/site/c.coIHLNOtGpF/b.1223975/k.3532/Katrina_Church_Recovery_Appeal/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp?c=coIHLNOtGpF&b=1223975&en=isKLJVMEJbIIKVOGJeLJK2ORIqI3I8NGIcKTL6OLKqJWI9OYG