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Plan for Rebuilding Our New Orleans Churches
Bishop William W. Hutchinson presented a plan for the rebuilding of New Orleans churches affected by Hurricane Katrina at a Feb. 23 meeting of New Orleans district clergy held at First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge.

The plan was subsequently presented to over 350 district laity on March 3 at Munholland UMC in New Orleans .

The plan, drafted by the Appointive Cabinet with the help of a “blue-ribbon” advisory committee, is based on a system of seven groups of Mission Zone Cooperative parishes.

“The United Methodist Church will continue to make disciples for Christ, even in the most affected areas of the city. New Orleans is, in many ways, starting over from scratch. This approach will treat the devastated areas as a mission field, building on bold, creative approaches to deliver the Gospel,” said Bishop Hutchinson.

Those clergy wishing to be a part of the rebuilding of News Orleans churches must have certain pastoral characteristics, said Hutchinson . “We need team players who have a passion for reaching people for Christ. Pastors must be able to work and live in the midst of change and hardship. We need leaders who are more interested in people than in buildings,” he said.

Hutchinson added that “out of the box” thinking would be critical for those serving in the mission zones. “Pastors will need to be self starters, remain flexible, and possess tremendous energy,” he added.

One key requirement set forth by Hutchinson is that clergy families must be supportive of living within the Mission Zone. “There will be no commuters,” he stressed. “We must demonstrate by our presence that United Methodists believe in the city and its future.”

Thirty-eight New Orleans area churches have been designated as part of one of the seven Mission Zones. Each zone will be directed by a clergy team, headed by a designated team leader. The team will work together to develop creative ways to bring church ministry to the areas served by the churches in the group. “Together, with the help of the District Superintendent and the Cabinet, the team will eventually make recommendations on the direction churches should go. Under this plan, every church has the opportunity to determine its future,” said Hutchinson .

“For now, we are not going to close any churches,” he stated.

The Mission Zone plan targets churches located primarily in Plaquemine, St. Bernard, Orleans and Jefferson parishes.

Appointments for clergy positions under this plan will be made in June and will take affect immediately following annual conference.

A Mission Zone Director will be hired or appointed to manage and work directly with the cooperative parish teams. This key individual, who may be clergy or a lay person, will be selected for his or her special ability to lead the clergy teams through challenging times, situations and decisions. The director will work in cooperation with the New Orleans District Superintendent, who must also provide leadership to those churches in the New Orleans District who are fully functioning.

Station churches have been assigned to each Mission Zone. These are churches that have a stable ministry, but are geographically connected to seriously affected areas. Aurora United Methodist Church and St. Matthews UMC, two of the station churches, are also serving as host churches for Storm Relief/Recovery Stations funded by United Methodist Committee on Relief and managed by the Louisiana Annual Conference. “The station churches can provide physical and spiritual support to each team as they take on the challenging task of re-establishing ministry in the affected areas,” said Hutchinson .

In addition to Aurora and St. Matthews UMCs, station churches include El Mesias, Gretna , Korean, Munholland, Lake Vista and Rayne United Methodist Churches (station churches boxed in green in the image below).

Churches in their respective Mission Zones include:

     • Group one (shaded lime green below), First, Grace, St. Mark's, LaHarpe, St. Phillip's, Thompson, Shaw Temple and John Wesley UMCs;
     • Group two (shaded orange below), Carrollton , Haven Trinity, Phillip's Memorial, Parker, and Williams UMCs, along with Tulane's Wesley Foundation;
     • Group three (shaded blue below), Mt. Zion , Peck, Wesley, Felicity, People's, First Street , and Napoleon Ave. UMCs;
     • Group four (shaded pink below), Kenner First, Thomas ( Kenner ), Jefferson, Ross, St. Paul 's (Harahan) UMC's;
     • Group five (shaded purple below), Asbury ( Algiers ), St. Matthew ( Algiers ), First ( Algiers ) and Boynton UMCs;
     • Group six (shaded red below), Hartzell, Arabi, Covenent ( Chalmette ) and Cornerstone UMCs; and
     • Group seven (shaded yellow below), Metairie , St. Luke's, Brooks and Trinity-Gentilly UMCs.


Click Here for an unshaded view.

Churches with a specialized focus include Bethany United Methodist Church in New Orleans and Sweet Lake , Cameron and Grand Chenier UMCs which were destroyed by Hurricane Rita.

“It is felt that Bethany UMC, which was moving to a new location prior to the hurricane, has a solid core group that is ready to grow the church's ministry to a special level,” added Hutchinson .

Also under special consideration are El Mesias UMC and Korean UMC, serving the Hispanic and Korean ministries of the La. Annual Conference, respectively.

Addressing the New Orleans clergy, Bishop Hutchinson emphasized, “The power is in your hands. We must continue to win disciples for Jesus Christ.”
 
The Louisiana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church
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Six National Guard chaplains have been operating out of the church, offering protestant worship services and a counseling center.

While in Baton Rouge , Barbara Duke found herself serving in the neo-natal department of Women's Hospital, working with the families of over 100 babies sent to the facility.

“I spent two days, doing ministry with the parents through the hospital's social service office. We offered counseling and spent a lot of time working with agency databases trying to reunite families. It was a joy to see loved ones brought back together,” said Duke.

One particularly touching story involved a woman and her pregnant daughter who had been airlifted out of New Orleans . The daughter, who was actually in false labor, was forced to leave behind four children, ages 13-17 with loved ones. “One of the children was a diabetic, another suffered from seizures,” said Duke.

Social workers at Woman's Hospital made several contacts with authorities and were able to reunite the children with their mother and grandmother.

The Dukes are returning to perform their ministries in a very different town. “Before Hurricane Katrina, we would drive 45 minutes south before we hit the Gulf of Mexico . Now, the ride to the gulf is only 20 minutes.

As it stands now, the towns of Buras and Venice are covered by water. We don't know what the fate of those churches are,” said Jeff Duke.