‘I believe with all my heart that this is the redemptive moment in history for the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” Pastor Chuck Register told the displaced parishioners of First Baptist Church of Gulfport six days after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the church's buildings.
It was a message given to those who had lost everything-their homes, their cars, their personal belongings, their church-everything except each other and their faith.
The sanctuary of First Baptist, about 100 yards from the Gulf of Mexico, survived Gulfport's worst previous hurricane-Camille in 1969-with only flood damage. This time, however, a 30-foot storm surge and 130-mph winds left it a total loss, its walls blown apart and pews nowhere to be found. The church's other buildings are similarly damaged.
The congregation is one of thousands along the Gulf Coast whose buildings were destroyed by Katrina, one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the United States. Damage estimates already exceed $100 billion, according to various reports.
No official count of affected churches is available as officials still are trying to contact pastors in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.
One unofficial estimate for Louisiana is that 300 churches either have been damaged severely or completely destroyed.
William Perkins, editor of the Mississippi Baptist Record, estimates that as many as one-fourth of the 2,100 churches affiliated with the Mississippi Baptist Convention have been destroyed or damaged.
In Alabama, every one of the 104 churches in the Mobile Baptist Association sustained some kind of damage.
In Gulfport, Pastor Register stood in a borrowed pulpit at Crosspoint Baptist Church on Sunday, Sept. 4. His message was one of comfort and hope for his hurting congregation. But it was also one of challenge, to call God's people to service in a desperate community.
“Our Lord is still on his throne, and he's given us the greatest opportunity on the face of this earth to get his message out,” challenged Register. “We need to use this opportunity to reach this community.”
Hundreds of worshipers packed the borrowed sanctuary of Crosspoint Church, a congregation on the north side of Gulfport planted by First Baptist just last year.
Register told a reporter the congregation likely will be displaced for three years. It is possible the church will rebuild somewhere besides the waterfront, the pastor said. “It's not fair to make another generation go through this.”
Still, he found reason to be grateful. “Praise the Lord, we've had no fatalities in our church family and no injuries in our church family,” he said.
In addition to members of First Baptist, others attended the Sept. 4 service, including members of First Presbyterian Church of Gulfport and other local church-seekers who came merely to find a place offering comfort for their pain.
“I came because I needed this,” said lifelong First Baptist member and Long Beach resident Becky Brown, 38, who brought her two sons, ages 7 and 9, to the service. “My week is not complete unless I go to church, and I needed it, especially today. I needed to be with these people, for comfort.”
And words of comfort were plentiful.
“You may be asking, ‘If God is a loving God, why is there eight feet of water in my house?' ” Register said to the crowd. “You may be asking why you lost everything you had. But God is still with us. He was with us on Monday. He's with us in the dark. He's with us in the gas line, and he will give us strength, even if you have to drag all of your belongings to the roadside for FEMA to pick up.”
“From New Orleans to Mobile, this is the message we need,” he continued. “No matter what condition you are in, or what you go back to when you leave here, God wants you to know that he loves you.”
Emergency sirens blared outside throughout the service, reminding those in the standing-room-only crowd that their world was still in chaos. But the congregation seemed undaunted. Arms outstretched and tears flowing, they joined music director Ken Nuss in song, hundreds of voices echoing through the building.
Among the worshipers who packed the sanctuary was Gulfport mayor and member of First Baptist, Brent Warr. In an emotional ceremony, Register and other church leaders laid hands on Warr, petitioning God to give him strength.
Also present were members of rescue teams and other ministries who had come to the area to offer assistance.
In a particularly poignant moment in the emotion-filled service, 10-year-old Connie MacIntosh, who made a profession of faith a few weeks before the storm, was baptized by her father, First Baptist missions director Tom MacIntosh.
Her baptism, Register said, was just the first of many that he hopes will follow in the weeks to come, weeks that will be filled with challenges and obstacles but also opportunities to share the gospel.
“While you're out there helping where you can,” he challenged his congregation, “don't just give out water and food. Give away Jesus Christ.”
Associated Baptist Press