| October 3, 2024
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
One week ago, Hurricane Helene made landfall near Cedar Key as a powerful category four storm. After coming ashore, the storm moved north through Georgia and eventually impacted Western North Carolina, where the devastation can only be described as catastrophic. Over the past few days, I have been in contact with the bishops of the affected regions, and we stand ready to help our brothers and sisters in their time of need. Here in Southwest Florida, we were not spared the brunt of Helene. In fact, we experienced far greater impacts from the storm than we anticipated. The record-breaking storm surge ravished our coastal communities, especially our barrier islands. Several of our churches were impacted by the storm, but the following seven churches were most significantly affected by storm surge related flooding.
- St. Boniface, Siesta Key
- Church of the Annunciation, Holmes Beach
- St. Alban’s, St. Pete Beach
- Calvary, Indian Rocks Beach
- St. Thomas, Snell Isle
- St. Matthew’s, St. Petersburg
- Good Shepherd, Dunedin
In addition to the damage to our church properties, many of our clergy and parishioners experienced flooding in their homes or businesses and have lost almost everything. Several of our local communities have suffered extensive damage to roads and infrastructure, which will take months or even years to repair and rebuild. Over the last several days, our CFO, Mike Booher, has been working closely with Church Insurance to conduct initial damage assessments for each of our churches and to commence the insurance claim process. Professional remediation and clean-up efforts are already well underway, and some of our local congregations have organized teams, which have been assisting with clean-up in those areas where it is safe to do so.
Today and tomorrow (October 3 and 4), I will be visiting each of the impacted communities along with members of my staff and representatives from Church Insurance. These site visits will provide additional information regarding the scope of the damage and the specific ways local congregations can assist their neighbors. In the coming days, I will be working with my financial staff and Diocesan Council to allocate additional funding to support these ongoing recovery efforts. We have already been approved for an initial emergency grant from Episcopal Relief and Development, and additional grant funding will be available soon.
Here are some ways you can help:
- PRAY for those communities, congregations, and individuals dealing with the aftermath of this storm.
- GIVE a financial donation to support hurricane recovery. I am providing websites for all the dioceses impacted by the storm.
- VOLUNTEER to help with both short-term and long-term recovery efforts. Below you will find the Facebook pages for all the congregations impacted by the storm. Requests for clean-up assistance or other projects will be posted on these Facebook pages. We will also create a link on our diocesan website where more information about volunteer opportunities will be available.
There is much work to be done. I am deeply grateful to our clergy and lay leaders who have been on the ground in the impacted areas to provide support and to begin the journey of recovery and rebuilding. Next week, we will gather for our annual Diocesan Convention, where we will focus on our call to walk together as ONE. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, I have witnessed the power of neighbor helping neighbor and the transformational work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. May God give us the strength and grace to meet the days ahead.
Faithfully in Christ, |
