Black Mountain and Crossnore Presbyterian churches welcome PDA as part of its solidarity visit
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Associate for National Disaster Response the Rev. Dr. Jim Kirk and Director the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo speak with Black Mountain Presbyterian Church Pastor and Head of Staff the Rev. Mary Katherine Robinson and Director of Relief Operations Michael Churchman. (Photo by Rich Copley)
BLACK MOUNTAIN, North Carolina — Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, a key provider of relief following Hurricane Helene, hasn’t done its yeoman’s work alone.
“People have donated from 22 states,” the Rev. Mary Katherine Robinson, BMPC’s pastor and head of staff, said during a solidarity visit with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance last week at the church. The Black Mountain church began distributing water and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs the day after the Sept. 26-27 storm. “We need to feed every body, mind and spirit,” she said, citing the church’s mission statement carved into its communion table: “Has everyone been fed?”
“People have cleaned out their local stores and brought the stuff to us” for distribution, said Michael Churchman, the director of relief operations at the church. “Then they thank us!”
“I never knew there were so many kinds of tuna,” said Jacob Churchman, Michael’s son and a volunteer at the church, which is continuously being organized by volunteers with all the donations pouring in.
As recently as two weeks ago, the sanctuary and narthex “were full of [disposable diapers],” Robinson said. Then worship resumed at the church, which was recently renovated, and groups including a Montessori school are moving in because they were displaced by the storm.
PC(USA) congregations in Charlotte and other cities have made multiple donations of relief supplies, Robinson said. “They care.”
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Director Director the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo speaks with Black Mountain Presbyterian Church storm relief volunteers, from center to right, McKenna Palacios, Chloe Munn, and Wilson Cham. All three volunteers are dealing with impacts of Hurricane Helene in their own lives while volunteering to help others. (Photo by Rich Copley)
Between 20 and 30 BMPC members and friends come every day to volunteer, Michael Churchman said, for which church leaders continue to be grateful. “When you get outside this area, the world has gone back to normal,” he said.
Added Robinson: “We are definitely focused on the least of these going forward.”
“It is a much more beloved community now,” she said later during a briefing among Presbytery of Western North Carolina churches and their partners, “and I give thanks for that.
Crossnore Presbyterian Church
Later that day, the Rev. Kathy Campbell welcomed the visitors from PDA and the PC(USA)’s communications ministry to the historic rock sanctuary at Crossnore Presbyterian Church, about 75 minutes northeast of Black Mountain. Campbell has served at Crossnore for 15 years.
The historic hilltop Crossnore Presbyterian Church in Crossnore, North Carolina. (Photo by Rich Copley)
Crossnore has seasonal attendance fluctuations. About half live in Crossnore and the rest have second homes there. To date, the church has received more than $60,000 in relief donations, some from several states away.
Eleven Crossnore apartments were flooded during and after Helene, and residents can’t return until Dec. 1. The church is working to provide those affected with kitchenware, pots and pans. “We can’t do the big things, but we can do the small things,” Campbell said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency “has been here from day 1,” Campbell said. “We’re trying to get the community to realize that all these [relief] organizations are working together.”
“I’m excited because this church was ready” to help, she said. On the day following the storm, Campbell received a $1,000 donation. “The biggest issue has been coordination and trying to get the help where it’s needed, and getting the right people to the right places,” she said. “Presbyterians are really good at responding.”
The Rev. Kathy Campbell in the historic sanctuary of Crossnore Presbyterian Church, where she is the pastor. (Photo by Rich Copley)
Campbell predicted it’ll be a decade or so before the roads “are back to some semblance of order. There’s a lot of trauma” remaining among residents.
Still, “the last two weeks have been very hopeful,” she said. When the local schools were still closed, teachers did home visits to check on their students. Two gated communities in town have community foundations, and they’re “letting people write simple grants” to receive some of the funds that have been donated.
“We have become an important hub in connecting real needs with real resources because our church is known and trusted in our community for our support and collaboration. What a blessing!” Campbell wrote last month in a report to members and friends of Crossnore Presbyterian Church.
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