Local Church Featured in Presbyterian News Service

Eastern Kentucky flooding brings out Presbyterian compassion. McGuire Memorial Presbyterian Church in Beattyville stays positive despite multiple floods in recent years.

Presbyterians are lending support to Kentuckians recovering from mid-February flooding that was particularly severe in the eastern part of the state during a stretch of bad weather that began with heavy rain and quickly turned to snow.

From grant funding from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to a recent church cleanup at Eastern Kentucky’s McGuire Memorial Presbyterian Church in Beattyville, Presbyterians have been eager to let survivors know they’re not alone.

“The people who come are a blessing, but I also think they receive a blessing,” McGuire’s pastor, the Rev. Vernon Goodman said, as volunteers from the Presbytery of Transylvania stopped by for the cleanup. “We just come and let people get loved on and let the Lord do what he does and try to have as much fun doing it as we can.”

Kentucky was one of multiple states that endured last month’s flooding. PDA has begun awarding grants to help and encourages Presbyterians to continue making gifts to its flooding fund to aid with recovery.

“There was flooding across Florida, Tennessee and West Virginia — at least those three states — and we have received a church damage request and an initial assistance grant request from (the Presbytery of) Transylvania,” which is where McGuire is located, said the Rev. Dr. Jim Kirk, PDA Associate for National Disaster Response.

“The initial assistance grant will help the presbytery partner with local congregations to meet the immediate unmet needs of survivors,” Kirk said. Also, “I'm anticipating at least an initial assistance grant request from [the Presbytery of] Middle Tennessee.”

(PDA has a representative who’s been participating in calls with West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) to identify unmet needs as well.)

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Feb. 14 in the Bluegrass State after forecasters warned that heavy rain would likely lead to significant flooding.

Across the state, at least 24 people were killed, and emergency crews performed more than 1,000 rescues. At least two of the deaths were from hypothermia related to a cold snap that followed the flooding.

“It’s devastating,” said the Rev. Philip Lotspeich, Transylvania’s general presbyter, who reflected  on a cycle of heartache that has included multiple major floods in a short span.  Flooding “happens all the time, but to have three major life-changing events in four years is a lot for people in the mountains (of eastern Kentucky) to have to process and handle.”

President Donald Trump has approved a request from Beshear for an Expedited Major Disaster Declaration, which includes public assistance for local governments and individual assistance for Kentuckians in at least 11 counties affected by the recent bad weather.

“What's so historic about this flood is that it's impacted the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky at the same time,” said the Rev. Jim Garrett, disaster host site coordinator and disaster recovery coordinator for the Presbytery of Transylvania who also serves as  the PDA representative on West Virginia VOAD. “So, we have flooding in all of our presbyteries in Kentucky — Western Kentucky, Mid-Kentucky Presbytery, Transylvania Presbytery and a little bit of Kentucky is Cincinnati Presbytery. But, of course, the greatest impacts are here in Transylvania Presbytery.”

Anne Chesnut of Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky and Jane Brown of Wilmore Presbyterian Church in Wilmore, Kentucky, push mud and water toward a drain in the church basement.

Garrett was speaking from McGuire Memorial on a recent Saturday morning as volunteers from the presbytery braved temperatures in the teens and 20s for cleanup. He explained why Eastern Kentucky is particularly vulnerable to this kind of disaster.

“In Eastern Kentucky, our geography is such that when we get heavy rains and the waters come down into the hills and the valleys and the hollers that it just floods,” he said. “We've had two churches — buildings — that have had impact that we know of, and then some other Presbyterian-affiliated groups have had impact in their buildings, too.”

During the clean-up at McGuire, Goodman explained how this flood contrasted with a flood that damaged the church in 2021.

In last month’s flood, “we got 28 inches of water, completely flooded the lower area, and so although it wasn't nearly as bad as the 5½ feet (of water) we got four years earlier,” it was “still substantial in terms of cleanup,” he said.

The church will have to replace two furnaces at an expected cost of $25,000, up from $18,000 in the earlier flood, Goodman said.

“We're actually going to relocate the furnaces upstairs,” he said. “It's going to be a little bit more of an expenditure, but at least in the future if it floods, we won't have to worry about the water wiping out the furnaces. … In the long run, that'll end up being a blessing.”

Meanwhile, Goodman has his mind on helping the flood-ravaged community. Once the church is ready, it will become a conduit for blessing others in need, just as volunteers from the presbytery have been a blessing to the church during cleanup.

“Our ambition is like it was before: As quick as we can get open and functioning, then we'll become a hub for helping the folks in town” who need things like cleaning supplies, Goodman said. Also, “we'll be offering an opportunity for folks to come and through us help the businesses in town.”

Because anxiety and stress can be prominent after disasters, PDA is hoping to provide emotional and spiritual support as needed.

It’s important to give people a chance to “open up and talk a little bit about what's happening … and just really whatever is most on their minds,” said the Rev. Dr. Kathy Riley, PDA associate for emotional and spiritual care and a minister member of Transylvania Presbytery.

Lotspeich has been in touch with Riley and agreed that providing that kind of support is crucial. “We can replace Sheetrock. We can rebuild homes. … But anxiety is a harder thing to deal with.”

Kirk added, “Events like this are a further reminder of the vulnerability of all communities and the importance of mid councils and congregations to develop disaster preparedness protocols and plans. PDA can resource mid councils in developing those.”

Info via Presbyterian News Service

PC(USA) Communications multimedia producer Rich Copley contributed to this report.