Innovation abounds as churches in Trinity Presbytery respond to Hurricane Helene’s destruction

Group texts, good neighbors and old-fashioned Presbyterian connectivity are on display during PDA’s solidarity visit

by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service

Representatives of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the Synod of South Atlantic met with people from Trinity Presbytery at its offices in Lexington, South Carolina on Oct. 28, 2024 to discuss the impact of Hurricane Helene on churches and communities in the presbytery. (Photo by Rich Copley)

COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Pastors and other church leaders in Trinity Presbytery got creative reaching out to parishioners following Hurricane Helene.

While Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greenwood, South Carolina, wasn’t damaged in the Sept. 26-27 hurricane, “the congregation felt it was too dangerous to drive [to church] that first Sunday,” said the church’s pastor, the Rev. Caroline Dennis, during a Monday meeting with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and others at the presbytery office. “We had no power or internet to share worship.”

But Dennis did have a cellphone. In groups of 10, she sent out 10 group texts to the church’s active members to convey the liturgy she’d planned to use Sunday.

The Rev. Caroline Dennis of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Greenwood, South Carolina, spoke about her church’s experience with Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“Some texted back and told me they were doing well. One group just kept texting and showing up for one another,” Dennis said. “Some people very peripheral to our congregation received care from that.”

Some of the younger members showed up with chainsaws to help their fellow churchgoers. They were quickly dubbed “Angels with Chainsaws.”

PDA’s the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo and the Rev. Jim Kirk, together with Valerie Young, executive and stated clerk of the Synod of South Atlantic, are engaged in a solidarity visit in six hurricane-affected states. Also attending Monday’s meetings were representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Rev. Dr. Danny Murphy Sr., general presbyter and stated clerk of Trinity Presbytery.

Following such a widespread disaster, “you can’t call committees and elders together. It’s neighbor to neighbor,” Dennis said. One family that suffered damage to their home sheltered at the church for two days; all their goods are still being stored at the church, where some neighbors came to shower and charge their phones following the storm. “For two weeks, people were doing office time at the church,” Dennis said. “We were glad to be that place for people in the neighborhood.”

The Rev. Dr. Ben Sloan, parish associate at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia, said the church “has teams anxious to go do recovery work.” The church has to date sent out five truckloads of everything from food to diapers.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team member Mark H. McCain shows PDA Director the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo where Hurricane Helene had the greatest impact in South Carolina. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“We have been talking about the gifts of sharing with others,” said Mark McCain, director of the South Carolina Presbyterian Disaster Team. “We’ll be discerning what we think congregations need, because that’s where the rubber meets the road.”

The Rev. Jim Rowell, the transitional pastor at Seven Oaks Presbyterian Church in Columbia, said that although the church did not sustain damage, it was without power for 11 days. Power was restored a half-hour before worship started on Oct. 6. A tree came through the roof of the house owned by an elderly couple. “His health is not good, and we have relocated them for three or four months,” Rowell said. “All in all, they’ve weathered pretty well.”

The pastor of South Aiken Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Jason Hammersley, was in Indiana when Helene reached Aiken. A church member “felt the urge to get up at 3 a.m. to get her purse,” he said. When she moved from her bedroom to the kitchen, a pine tree crashed through in the exact spot where she’d been sleeping. Soon, two more trees hit the house. Her son helped her move into another home.

The church’s Barnabas Ministry has provided the community “an outpouring of generosity,” Hammersley said. “They find needs and respond to them. It’s a word of encouragement and blessing to people.”

“I was in Mississippi for Camille, and this was worse,” said Greg Burkes, a ruling elder at the church. “The number one thing was none of us expected it to be that bad.”

“As a church,” he said, “we need to figure out how to be that place where you can be with people and help people.”

Via Zoom, the Rev. Dr. Chris Erde of First Presbyterian Church in Aiken said half a dozen church members have 40 or more trees down on their properties. One is looking at an $80,000 bill for tree removal. “We are a Tree City USA. You’ve got to get a signature from Jesus himself to get a tree cut down,” he said. “You still see piles taller than we are by the side of the road.”

The Rev. Dr. Danny Murphy Sr., general presbyter and stated clerk of Trinity Presbytery, led Monday’s meeting. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“It’s a blessing to be part of a denomination that’s connected. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be an independent organization and run into something like this,” Murphy said. “All the resources and help that’s available when we go through something like this is utterly amazing.”

“When this happened,” he said, “I knew to turn to Mark.”

The campus of Trinity Presbytery in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“When you’re a survivor, it’s difficult to attend to all the details,” said González-Castillo. “We’re grateful for people like Mark to be able to say, ‘Have you thought of this?’”

“Underserved communities are asking, ‘When will we be served?’ González-Castillo said. “PDA is not just an office. It’s Presbyterians that respond to disasters.”

PDA continues “to commit to the journey, a road that’s going to be long,” he said. PDA also provides emotional and spiritual care, because “the effects of trauma often last longer than repairing the house or the church.”

“Trauma is trauma. We see you and we continue to pray for you,” Young said, pledging to “continue to communicate about resources and the work that’s being done. We are not going to forget. We are here for the long haul, just like PDA is.”

“PDA can’t show up if the entire church doesn’t continue to give,” Young said. “I am grateful for your ministries,” she told those gathered.

The Rev. Jim Kirk, Associate for National Disaster Response with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, speaks during the meeting. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Kirk noted that the year he was ordained, 1981, the U.S. experienced two billion-dollar disasters. The year he began volunteering for PDA, 1996, there were five. When he went to work at his current position in 2016, there were 15. Last year there were 23, and this year, “we’re on pace to exceed that,” Kirk said. “Disasters are going to increase and they’re going to be more impactful.”

Disaster ministry “needs to be seen more as a core part of what we do,” not “if we have time or have the dollars,” Kirk said. “When you help neighbors in need, you’re PDA. Sadly, it’s not if it happens again, it’s when.”

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is one of the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. You can donate to help with the hurricane response of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance by clicking here.