While a natural disaster can bring devastating results, there’s a silver lining in the storm clouds for Disciples congregations: Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF)’s complimentary Building Disaster Response Service.
Jim Michel, the Building and Capital Services Advisor assigned to support communities of faith following natural disasters, is as welcome as the rainbow after the rain — and he stays around a lot longer.
“We don’t just console and leave,” Jim says. “We are there to help all the way to the end – until [congregations] are in their facilities and insurance has cut a check.”
Sometimes the recovery is not as simple as rebuilding a facility. It involves determining what new opportunities may be present in the wake of the disaster.
Still picking up the pieces after an extreme weather event produced more than 60 tornadoes across eight states in December of 2021, First Christian Church in Mayfield, Ky., is starting over. The storm flattened their 100-year-old building.
FCC Mayfield is rethinking their entire ministry, to determine what kind of building should replace what was lost. Rather than build back, they are building forward.
Jim has accompanied the congregation through a retreat and process of discernment as they continue to listen for God’s call on their lives in this new moment. When it’s time to rebuild, Jim will offer access to resources for designing the structure, working with the insurance company, raising capital, and even financing the next steps for this faith community.
Your gifts to Disciples Church Extension Fund’s New Ways into the World endowment campaign help churches like these overcome adversity when they need help the most. Choose from various ways to give.