CONTACT: Linda Bloom, New York (212) 870-3803
March 25, 1998
After Gay's Hill Baptist Church in Millen, Ga., burned to the ground in March 1996, United Methodists became a large part of the reconstruction effort.
They coordinated volunteers and on-site construction, provided money for administrative expenses, and arrived in teams to do the actual work.
United Methodist Bishop Richard Looney, South Georgia Conference, was a featured speaker during the July 19-20, 1997, dedication services in the new sanctuary.
Today, after the project's completion, an ongoing relationship has evolved between Gay's Hill and two nearby United Methodist churches, according to Joe Hamilton.
Hamilton coordinates the denomination's volunteer work with burned churches through the Southeastern Jurisdiction Office of Volunteers in Mission (VIM).
Gay's Hill is only one of the congregations that has received VIM teams since September 1996, when the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) asked the office for its assistance.
The National Council of Churches' Burned Churches Project initially designated three churches as United Methodist rebuilding projects, but a number of others have now received some sort of assistance from the denomination, according to Hamilton.
"We do what's possible in the best way we can," he said. "We end up connecting in a lot of diverse ways."
The interest in helping burned-out congregations rebuild is so great that more than 80 teams of United Methodist volunteers had been placed as of March.
The appeal is simple. "It's brothers and sisters helping brothers and sisters," Hamilton explained. "If you burn one church, you burn them all."
But volunteers can't do their work unless money is available to buy materials and pay for necessary costs, such as architects' drawings and filing fees.
"There are a number of places where we could be more involved if the funds were there," Hamilton added.
The rebuilding efforts often involve cooperating with other denominations. United Methodist volunteers, for example, helped in the construction of Spring Hill AME Church in Dillon, S.C., a project coordinated by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
Other churches that have received United Methodist assistance in rebuilding include
Rocky Point Missionary Baptist Church in McComb, Miss.; Rosemary Baptist Church in
Barnwell, S.C.; South Richland Bible Way Church in Gadsden, S.C.; New Hope Baptist Church
in Seattle, Wash.; Mt. Olive Full Gospel Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Ga.; Long Suffering
Full Gospel Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Miss.; Avenue M Church of God in Christ
in Birmingham, Ala.; and Apostle Faith Church of Jesus in Indiantown, Fla.
REBUILDING -- Volunteer worker Willie Starks helps rebuild the arson-damaged Rosemary Baptist Church in Barnwell, S.C. As of March, more than 80 United Methodist Volunteers-in-Mission teams have participated rebuilding projects at burned churches. A UMNS photo courtesy of UMVIM SEJ.
Construction is nearly complete at Pleasant Ridge United Methodist Church in Pulaski, Tenn., which burned down on Palm Sunday in 1997. Because of United Methodist efforts ranging from the local to national level, the congregation is now worshipping in its new sanctuary.
For information on volunteering, call the Southeastern Jurisdiction office at (404) 659-5060 or visit its website at http://www.gbgm-umc.org/Volunteers/burninfo.html.
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New York, and Washington.
For general questions about The United Methodist
Church, please call InfoServ at
1.800.251.8140.
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