It was, per the insurance industry, an "act of God," but hurricanes Charley and Frances did not spare churches and other religious groups in Florida though they caused less damage than projected.
The Church of the Nazarene reported that a church in Punta Gorda was a total loss in the storm that hit the state August 13. In total, about 400 mid-Florida churches, synagogues, and temples sustained damage.
Further inland, the 40-acre campus of the Pioneers missions agency, near the Orlando International Airport, sustained damage estimated at nearly $1 million. An agency-owned 120-site recreational campground was hit hard. Hurricane Charley destroyed several vehicles and the mission's lakefront guest units. Other Orlando-based ministries—including Wycliffe Bible Translators, Campus Crusade for Christ, and Reformed Theological Seminary—reported minimal damage.
Numerous faith-based relief organizations have begun to deliver supplies. "You give them some water, and it's like you gave them a bar of gold," said Steve Ewing of Convoy of Hope, a relief organization working with the Assemblies of God. Mickey Caison, manager of the Disaster Operations Center at the North American Mission Board, said 175 Southern Baptist disaster-relief units could be activated.
"During Hurricane Andrew [in 1992] we probably did not have but about 60 disaster-relief units in the whole fleet in the United States, and now we've got 498," Caison said.
Meanwhile, the number of trained Southern Baptist disaster-relief volunteers has grown from 3,000 in 1992 to a nationwide network of 28,500.
The Church of the Nazarene has information on how to help as well as news from the front lines of the hurricane.
News elsewhere on the hurricane's impact on churches includes:
Hurricane Charley disrupts church services | Hurricane Charley destroyed the regular place of worship for the members of Harbor Breeze Baptist Church in Punta Gorda. So on Sunday, the church's pastor moved services to a nearby park shelter. (WTSP, Tampa Bay, Aug 15, 2004)
Carteret church returning a favor | Carteret County was spared major damage from Hurricane Charley, but the kind of devastation left behind recently in Florida is known here by a different name: Hurricane Isabel. (Jacksonville Daily News, NC, August 31,2004)
Post-Charley meals & cleanup continue among Baptist ministries | Nearly 3,500 Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers from 24 states have helped prepare an estimated 800,000 meals and completed more than 3,000 cleanup and recovery projects since Hurricane Charley barreled through southwest Florida on Aug. 13. (Baptist Press, Aug 30, 2004)
Community Presbyterian Church raises dollars and donations | The members and friends of the Community Presbyterian Church in Englewood showed their generosity at a benefit spaghetti dinner on Wednesday night. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, Aug 29, 2004)
Building faith | Christian Contractors Association of Brooksville relays Christ's message in the wake of disaster with tape measures, tarps, hammers and saws. (St. Petersburg Times, FL, Aug 29, 2004)
Faithful seek light in storm's dark aftermath | Parishioners trickle into local churches seeking solace or simply electricity and air conditioning. (The Orlando Sentinel, August 16, 2004)
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