This season of Joy has been stunned by an unusual and historic outbreak of severe weather across the Midwest and we once again find ourselves in mourning, as communities deal with the aftermath of a tornado outbreak that has left scores of people dead. Six states are now picking up the pieces left by as many as 30 twisters that have destroyed homes, businesses, churches, and lives. We wait in agony as the death toll climbs higher.
A tornado tore through parts of Nashville and nearby counties, resulting in extensive damage and loss of life, numerous collapsed buildings and broken trees. In addition to reaching out to the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee to offer help doing a damage assessment, PDA sent out a donation appeal on social media as well as a request for prayer for the affected communities.
Andrew Hamblin’s Facebook page is filled with snippets of his life. Making a late-night run to Taco Bell. Watching SpongeBob on the couch with his kids. Handling rattlesnakes in church. Hamblin, 21, pastor of Tabernacle Church of God in LaFollette, Tenn., is part of a new generation of serpent-handling Christians who are revitalizing a century-old faith tradition in Tennessee.
For the past five years, members of Westminster Presbyterian Church have traveled to the Gulf Coast, helping rebuild homes ruined by Hurricane Katrina.
They’ve slept in church basements and befriended the families whose homes they’ve repaired. Like thousands of other church volunteers, they’ve been part of a massive faith-based effort to help that flood-ravaged region recover.
So when Presbyterian Disaster Assistance was looking for a place to house workers coming to assist flood victims in Nashville, Westminster was the first to volunteer.
The church converted a classroom to house volunteers, installed 30 bunk beds and put in two new showers …
After the historic flooding here last weekend, clean-up has begun.
Walking through the hardest hit areas of this city, the acrid smell of "flood mud" — a combination of mud mixed with garbage and toxins — is everywhere. The smell may be ugly but the sight of victims’ possessions piled all around is heartrending.
Flooded Nashvillians are not without help, however. Neighborhoods are crawling with volunteers and the Red Cross reports astonishment at the turnout of helpers which, according to them, is well above average. Yet more are needed and will be needed for months.
Bellevue Presbyterian Church is in …
Harpeth Presbyterian Church was crawling with members Monday morning (May 3), cleaning up after the nearby Harpeth River overflowed its banks Saturday and Sunday, flooding this historic church in Brentwood, Tenn.
Established in 1811, the historic church built it's current structure in the early 1830’s. It is one of the earliest Presbyterian churches in middle Tennessee.
"We’ll recover," said the Rev. David Jones, pastor of the church. "I'm not sure the building would be here if it weren't for that new levee." The levee was recently installed due to bridgework on Hillsoboro Road which crosses the river, right next to …