The Co-Moderators of the 226th General Assembly join Foothills Presbytery for a stop on PDA’s solidarity visit

The Rev. Tony Larson and the Rev. CeCe Armstrong share prayer skills and themselves to a crowd of about 50

by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service

The Rev. CeCe Armstrong and the Rev. Tony Larson, Co-Moderators of the 226th General Assembly (2024), were among those gathered Tuesday at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Rich Copley)

GREENVILLE, South Carolina — The Rev. CeCe Armstrong and the Rev. Tony Larson, Co-Moderators of the 226^th General Assembly (2024), joined members of Foothills Presbytery and two staff from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for a time of sharing on Tuesday at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina. Valerie Young, executive and stated clerk for the Synod of South Atlantic, who organized PDA’s solidarity visit to churches and mid councils affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, also participated.

“These past few weeks have been challenging for ministry,” Larson said. “We are finding ways to build relationships across the community and attend to people’s needs.”

“All of that can be exhausting,” Larson said. “Today we’re hoping we can draw strength from one another.”

Herman Glenn, a ruling elder at Walkers Chapel Presbyterian Church in Reidville, South Carolina, participated in a folded hands prayer with the Co-Moderators of the 226th General Assembly (2024) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). (Photo by Rich Copley)

Armstrong used her hands to teach the crowd of around 50 people a finger prayer. In the palms together position, our thumbs are pointed toward us, a reminder to pray for ourselves. The pointer finger suggests we pray “for those of us who tell us what to do,” she said. The tall finger is for those in authority. The ring finger is associated with love; “pray for those you love, those who drive straight to your heart,” Armstrong suggested. The pinkie reminds us “to pray for the least of these.”

As he has at other times during the solidarity visit, PDA’s the Rev. Jim Kirk stressed the importance of storytelling. “It’s how we heal,” he said. “If we’re not attending to people’s souls, we’re not healing.” As he did two days before, Kirk asked those gathered to identify where they’d experienced consolation and desolation.

“In the beauty of simplicity — spending time together, riding bikes around the neighborhood,” said one.

“In the beauty of Creation,” said another. “Even with the trees down all around you and part of the roof is off, the sun comes up every morning, and it’s beautiful. The fall leaves are turning, and the sunset is beautiful. When it feels like everything is bad, God said through Creation, ‘It is good.’”

“I’m inspired by the increase in neighborliness,” one person said. “People are rejoicing in the opportunity to celebrate that ‘We have this, and you need this.’ The spontaneity of sharing has been beautiful.”

“That organizations like the Red Cross and others give you hope that something good will come out of it,” one person said.

“One of my signs of hope was PDA,” said another. “I knew PDA, [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] and other groups were coming. Out of chaos, hope.”

One person was grateful for “the spontaneous work of local groups, people bringing and unloading huge numbers of supplies to be helicoptered to Western North Carolina.”

A man said he’s been “really impressed by the unnumbered acts of generosity, seemingly out of nowhere.”

“Why,” Kirk asked, “do we need a disaster to be human again?”

“We can all help one another in our time of need,” one person said. “My heart was overjoyed to see people come out of nowhere to help our church.”

One person cited the gift of humor. “It’s easy to be overwhelmed by natural disasters and storms, but God blesses us with humor to bring us through tough situations,” the person said. “Not only do we need God, we need each other. … Laughter is the best medicine.”

The Rev. Dr. Jackie Putnam, Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Mission at Fourth Presbyterian Church, speaks during Tuesday’s gathering. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“We saw how nimble the human spirit is,” one woman said. “People scrambled to find ways to help.”

“Those stumps and roots are still with us,” as is “the vulnerability of being exposed,” said another. “Some of us are used to being the helper. We had to learn to sit still during our most vulnerable moment, thanks be to God.”

“As people of faith, sometimes we fail to lament,” Kirk said. “What are things that cause us lament?”

“Not knowing what’s next,” said one man. “That brings desolation and discouragement too.”

“Fatigue for pastors, but also [church] members and volunteers,” a woman said. “People can pick up branches only so many days and make only so many casseroles. People are tired.”

“Displacement,” a woman said, “and not knowing when there will be replacement.”

The Rev. Dr. Jerone Wilder, the pastor of Walkers Chapel in Reidville, South Carolina, spoke about the church’s experience of Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“Reaching the limit of what we can do for others while seeing just how much still needs to be done,” one woman said, “and feeling like there’s nowhere to go.”

“Survivor’s guilt,” said a woman who came to Foothills Presbytery from the hard-hit Presbytery of Western North Carolina. “I lost power for only 18 hours.” This woman lamented “recognizing what I have and what I avoided” while “holding space for friends and colleagues who are dealing with so much more.”

“How many times have we said, ‘It could have been so much worse,’” one woman said. “It could have been, but we need to talk about what we lost. We discount our own loss, our own grief, our own fears. It could have been so much worse — but it’s bad.”

One man lamented his anxiety. “I’ve never had to worry about a hurricane,” he said. “Is this something my kids will have to deal with? Is this the new reality?”

Mark McCain of the South Carolina Presbyterian Disaster Assistance team addresses the gathering. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“I have visited some of your churches and had rich reward hearing your stories,” said Mark McCain, who leads the South Carolina Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Team. During each visit, “my last question is always, ‘What is there we can do for you? Can we do training?’ Now that we’ve been slapped upside the face, our awareness level is high for the ministry of preparedness. It’s not in the Book of Order. Maybe it’s not on the session’s agenda, and yet we’ve been slapped, and we have to step up.”

“You are loved and seen” said PDA Director the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo. “We promise to continue walking with you. Thank you for welcoming us.”

The Rev. Debbie Foster, leader and stated clerk Foothills Presbytery, receives a hug from Valerie Young, executive and stated clerk of Synod of South Atlantic. (Photo by Rich Copley)

The Rev. Debbie Foster, the leader and stated clerk at Foothills Presbytery, said the mid council has “a deep bench. Our people come first.” She talked about a 6-year-old whose house was badly damaged by a tree. The child’s family is now staying in a house near the airport, “and they keep waking up every night. The sounds of the storm will not go away as quickly for them as for some of us.”

The Rev. Pressley Cox, Foothills Presbytery’s Associate for Shared Mission & Ministry, concluded the gathering with a poem called “A Poet’s Conviction” by Dr. Frank Clark, a psychiatrist and author who’s a member of Fourth Presbyterian Church.

Clark’s poem reads in part:

“Dear Helene,

Your repetitive rapid rampant winds and relentless ruthless remorseless rains assaulted the Southeast with force leaving trees, power lines, bodies of water, roads and inhabitants melancholic and traumatized!

Devastation and death became acquainted with one another while preservation was submerged pleading for a lifeline. … Your destruction will be etched in history.

However,

Our resolve remains durable and deep rooted in faith.

Our hands of humanity will restore cities with the power of prayer and passion.

Our hearts of thanksgiving will sync in rhythm as we clothe our neighbors with Godly love.

Our tear ducts will create waterfalls of abundant hope.

Our mules of humility will bear gifts of peace and antidotes for healing.

And

Our pain will be transformed by the everlasting light.”