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spite of losses, UMs talk of rebuilding
By Cathy Farmer Bishop Dick Wills, Brownsville District Superintendent Cecil Bellew and Dyersburg District Superintendent Mickey Carpenter spent Wednesday, April 5, visiting the West Tennessee United Methodist churches and pastors whose congregations suffered death, injury and destruction of property during the April 2 tornadoes. “As we rode around seeing all the destruction caused by the tornados, I was deeply moved by the loss of life and suffering of our people in West Tennessee,” Bishop Wills said. “I felt such sadness for so many people. It was when we visited United Methodist pastors and laity who had suffered damage that my spirits were lifted. “In spite of all the
losses,” he said, “our United Methodist people were talking about
rebuilding and the many new things God would be doing in spite of this
tragedy. I saw being lived out Romans 8:28 The Rev. Gene Rollins, pastor of Bradford United Methodist Church, still reeling from the loss of five members of the closeknit community, greeted the bishop with a firm handshake. “The bishop’s presence meant a lot to us,” Rollins said later. “We think it’s just fantastic that he thought enough of us to spend some time here. It’s good knowing we’re not out here all alone.” Rollins believes his church was fortunate in some ways, even though the insurance adjuster said the main building will need a new roof, the Sunday school classrooms in back will have to be torn down and rebuilt, and the fellowship hall has holes in the siding. “Just about everyone in town has damage to their homes and property,” Rollins said, “but the tough part is the loss of our friends, relatives and neighbors. It’s just shocking.” Rollins had just returned from the funeral of the Taylor family. The young father, mother and two children, ages three and five, were buried Friday, April 7. “One child was buried in the same casket as the father and one with the mother,” Rollins said in a grief-stricken voice. On Saturday, April 8, he officiated at the funeral of Patsy Lewis, a very active member of Bradford United Methodist Church. Just days after the tornado wrought such destruction, Disaster Response teams from Area 3 were hard at work in Bradford. Bill Copeland, pastor of Griffins-Grier’s Chapel-Poplar Grove, greeted the bishop’s party with a tour of the heavily damaged church and fellowship hall at Griffins and a walk-through of the church parsonage. “We’re really glad the bishop came by,” Copeland said later. “It was a blessing for us especially to pray with him.” Copeland said the roof on his parsonage, damaged by a falling tree, has already been partially repaired. The contractor has the decking back on and the roll roofing spread. The workers were trying to beat the heavy rain, thunderstorms and possible tornadoes predicted for April 7. “They boarded up the west end of the house, too,” Copeland said. The Griffins Chapel congregation salvaged what they could from the sanctuary. The Sunday school wing is completely demolished and the fellowship hall destroyed. “We’ve had invitations from Bradford UMC and from Poplar Grove to come worship with them,” Copeland said. “We’ll probably decide this Sunday what we’re going to do.” A disaster response team was expected at the church within days. “The bishop’s visit meant an awful lot to us,” said Walt Asher of Christ Church. “We learned that we don’t have to be a big church to get his attention. He cares about everybody.” At Christ Church, a track hoe owned by Mike McCulloch, a new member of the church, made short work of clearing the site. “We’ll have church there on the grounds this Sunday, April 9,” Asher said. “I’ve told everyone to bring their lawn chairs and umbrellas.” And they’ll have two new members in those lawn chairs: Mike McCulloch and his cousin Tammy joined the church two days after the tornado struck.
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