Oct 3rd, 2024 at 7:11 AM
by Scott White
Friends, here is the latest.
As for most of us in Asheville, we have no water at the church and no internet. We do have power.
Without the internet and cell service it has been very difficult to communicate and organize. We’ve tried to order a satellite internet device but we don’t know how long it will take to get here. Cell service is coming back but data service is iffy. First Presbyterian Church has offered their internet and we are grateful but being in two places is hard.
Some members of our staff have experienced devastating loss and have needed to care for family. We are regrouping as quickly as we can.
Damage to homes and flooding are widespread among our members.
Our downtown location is surrounded by services. World Kitchen is operating one street over on Coxe Avenue and is feeding thousands. We will allow World Kitchen to do what they do best in offering food in our neighborhood. Asheville City is distributing water at Pack Square and at Asheville Middle School, also in our neighborhood. We will also allow the city to lead the way in this distribution.
ABCCM is calling for volunteers. As a board member, I encourage your participation in this way. Clean up, food packing and sorting at their three crisis ministries in downtown and Hominy Valley are needed. Transformation Village and Costello House need food—www.ABCCM.org. Ask for Shannon and Leigh Anne.
I am starting to learn of donation drives at churches in Charlotte and beyond.
I encourage you also to donate to Trinity. We will be assisting members who have emergency needs, as well as non-members and providing for wider needs and other churches that have experienced damage. Insurance will likely cover most of our damage. Go to Trinity’s website and in the homepage right hand corner click on the “Give” button and in the drop down menu choose Hurricane Helene Relief.
I have been in conversation with the representatives of Episcopal Relief and Development. We will become friends in the coming weeks and months.
If any member of the church has an emergency financial need, please call me. If any member of the church has another emergency need of water, etc., please call me. The church phones are not working. The cell phones of all staff members are listed below. We are here to help.
As communication comes back online we are gradually contacting members of the church who may be the most vulnerable. As I speak with members it is clear to me that at least three quarters have evacuated. With the prospect of weeks without water it is understandable.
We will have church on Sunday at 8 and 10:45, not 5:30. There will be no other activities—no Sunday School, no Breakfast, no coffee hour, though we can gather in the courtyard after worship. Remember, we have no water so please use the bathroom before you come. We will modify our services so we don’t keep you too long. It is vital to come together, in the Lord’s name, in the midst of such devastation in our beautiful city. We cannot livestream.
In the coming weeks we will learn more about how we can all help each other and our city. Stay tuned.
At yesterday’s Eucharist we read the story of the birth of Jesus. We remembered that in the Incarnation we have a God who knows what it is to be one of us, with all our suffering, all our sorrows, all of our bewilderment, all of our pain. God does not cause these things to happen, yet God is walking with us through them when they take place.
May God bless you in this time and may we draw strength from one another,
Scott+
The Rev. Scott White: 828-772-7055
The Rev. Amy Peterson: 206-446-3946
The Rev. Mike Reardon: 860-771-1656
Deacon Bob Zito: 646-226-2584
Jeff Cook, Assistant for Operations: 612-384-4409
Beth Chestnut, Director of Children’s Ministries: 828-337-4596
Glenn Chiles, Sexton: 828-280-9378
Debbie Cox, Director of Youth Ministries and Parish Life: 828-216-1129
Jan Hildebran, Director of Finance: 828-215-3018
Robyn McNeal, Assistant Director of Finance: 828-273-0808
Nanette Popa, Program Assistant: 828-713-0524
Jo Rice, Assistant to the Rector: 503-808-8054
Kevin Seal, Director of Music: 612-201-5882
Volunteer Opportunities:
World Central Kitchen: https://wck.volunteerhub.com/userregistrationwizard/usernamepassword
ABCCM: www.ABCCM.org