Hurricanes Damaged Many Churches
Friday September 30, 2005 8:16 PM
AP Photo LADQ101
By RICHARD N. OSTLING
AP Religion Writer
Religious groups continue to meet massive humanitarian needs along the stricken Gulf Coast, but many suffered heavy blows themselves in Hurricane Katrina. The storm destroyed or seriously damaged at least 1,000 churches, with the toll of Hurricane Rita still unknown; a number of congregations will almost certainly be forced to disband or consolidate.
Archbishop Alfred Hughes, leader of 491,000 Roman Catholics in southern Louisiana, said conditions should be fairly normal by mid-October in five of the civil parishes - akin to counties - in the New Orleans Archdiocese. But in three other parishes, at least half the 79 Catholic churches ``are so badly impacted that they probably will have to be rebuilt.''
This week the archdiocese also said that it needs to lay off an unspecified number of employees because of the ``enormous personal and financial challenges'' that lay ahead. It hopes to rehire the workers eventually.
At least the Catholics had insurance broad enough to cover a chunk of losses from flooding; some other denominations apparently had much less.
Mississippi Southern Baptist spokesman William Perkins said ``about 100 churches are totally destroyed down to the ground and another 300 are either usable or barely usable.'' The cost to rebuild? ``Not a clue,'' he said.
Even before Katrina, some congregations ``were struggling to stay open'' and may now need to disband or merge, he said.
Adding Alabama to Louisiana and Mississippi, the Southern Baptist Convention estimated that 925 of its churches were destroyed or severely damaged.
In the United Methodist Church, Bishop William Hutchinson of Louisiana said perhaps 60 of the 78 churches in the New Orleans area suffered major damage, and with as many as 40 it is ``questionable whether the current buildings can be saved.''
``We are going to have to evaluate where churches need to be placed,'' he said.
In the nation's largest black denomination, the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc., emergency needs are so pressing that no survey on the extent of church damage has been possible, said the Rev. Charles Mock. Longer-range planning will begin by January.
Eric Stillman, executive director of the metropolitan New Orleans Jewish federation, said six of the area's 11 synagogues and Jewish centers will need renovation or replacement.
The Rev. Joe McKeever of the Southern Baptist Convention's New Orleans area association said that, of the group's 135 churches and missions, ``a lot of them will have to be flattened.'' That includes the largest, the 7,000-member Franklin Avenue church.
The big picture, McKeever said, is a shake up in the regional religious community.
``Every church will be impacted. Even those without any damage will find their members aren't coming back,'' he said. ``We'll have lost a lot of churches that won't be rebuilt.''
For now, some parishioners able to return home have gathered for worship at the sites of their churches, while evacuees attend services in their new locations.
Most of the evacuated pupils from New Orleans Catholic parochial schools have been admitted to schools elsewhere. Students at the church-related colleges along the coast have scattered to enroll temporarily at campuses all over the country.
The main campus of the large New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary won't open until sometime next year, but classes resume Monday with a more or less intact faculty and student body. Training will occur over the Internet, and at the school's 17 previously existing extension centers.
The Southern Baptists' mission board has launched an ``Adopt a Church'' program, asking local congregations to pair with those where facilities are damaged to provide aid for a year or two, even longer if necessary.
The board has also designated $10 million for fast loans on easy terms of up to $100,000 each to help distressed congregations. But Karl Dietz, who directs the loan program, recognizes that $10 million is merely ``a start in the right direction.''