Black Mountain Presbyterian Church and volunteers bringing ‘beautiful spirit’ to feeding and supporting the community
‘It's bringing strangers together and making them friends’ following Hurricane Helene
LOUISVILLE — In the midst of the devastation from Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, Black Mountain Presbyterian Church (BMPC) has become a refuge for those seeking food and comfort in a time of crisis.
Pastor Mary Katherine Robinson and Associate Pastor David Carter Florence are among the Good Samaritans who have been tending to the needs of community members coming to the church for assistance in the wake of Helene, a powerful storm that hit the area in late September.
While hundreds of meals have been served, the church also is providing another much-needed ingredient: compassion.
After historic flooding and other damage, some people “just need a hug,” Robinson said. “They need a shoulder to cry on. … There are some that lost everything that they have.”
Helene made landfall less than two weeks ago, wreaking havoc from Florida to southern Appalachia. It has been blamed for more than 200 deaths across multiple states and necessitated emergency rescues to save the stranded. West North Carolina already had endured extreme, unrelenting precipitation when heavy rain from remnants of Hurricane Helene arrived, according to the North Carolina State Climate Office.
“Swannanoa was just hit so hard because the Swannanoa River runs through It, and the powerful force of the river took stone homes with strong foundations that had been there for centuries, it swept them away,” Robinson said.
Because of the magnitude of the disaster, the church knew the needs would be great, so members and friends decided to begin mobilizing to act.
“It's the poor places in town, the places near the creeks and the rivers that flooded, and so I feel like we're really caring for the least of these and the people in our community that cannot get out of town,” Robinson said last week, noting that some people “don't have $1,000 to go somewhere else,” and some just prefer not to leave.
BMPC’s willingness to help is just one example of how people have come together to assist others in the region. Many others, including First Presbyterian Asheville and Grace Covenant Presbyterian in Asheville, also have gone to work assisting their neighbors.
“One beautiful thing about Black Mountain Pres is we have like 53 retired Presbyterian pastors and mission partners,” Robinson said. “We are gifted in that and so a lot of people serving in the line are some of our retired pastors, or just pastors that live here, so they have a beautiful spirit and are trained well to reach out to people” who need someone to listen.
Providing services during the storm is in keeping with BMPC’s mission statement, “Has everyone been fed?” and also reflects the church’s longstanding commitment to addressing hunger and poverty as a Hunger Action Congregation of the Presbyterian Hunger Program.
“After our second day of feeding, we really began to get organized and mobilized, and so we've become a distribution center as well, and we've had to get an extra warehouse because of all the supplies,” Robinson said.
Various parts of the church have been used as part of the operation. For example, the narthex has been used like a store. “People come and they give us a list of what they need, and we have volunteers go and pick up all their needs and bring it to them and then we're using our fellowship hall kind of as a little bit of a warehouse.”
Also, “the sanctuary’s open for prayer for anyone that needs a quiet space,” she said.
Representatives from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has visited the church (and multiple other Helene-impacted areas), and people who aren't connected to a church have been coming in to volunteer.
“It's bringing strangers together and making them friends, and that’s beautiful to watch,” Robinson said.
Referencing Psalm 42, she went on to say, “I really feel like even in the midst of such disaster, the human spirit is resilient and beautiful, and we are seeing the best of it here at the church.”
In addition to the volunteerism, messages of concern and donations have flowed in, helping to cope at a difficult time.
“Grief is very much mingled with gratitude for all those people that are reaching out and helping us through this hard time,” Robinson said. “We are so very grateful.”
To view a series of PDA videos about Helene’s impact, go here, here, here and here. For more information about Helene and how to help, visit PDA’s Hurricane Helene page here.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. To donate to hurricane response, click here. To contribute to the Black Mountain Presbyterian’s Hurricane Relief Fund, go here.
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