Mission Yearbook: North Carolina town marks one year since Hurricane Helene with day of hope and healing

Boone, North Carolina, recently observed the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene’s impact in Western North Carolina with Hope After Helene, a day that included music, poetry, connection and reflection.

Participants in the day included representatives of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team, the Appalachian State University Presbyterian Episcopal Campus Ministry, and musician and speaker David LaMotte, who delivered a keynote address and an event-closing concert. 

Watch: Western North Carolina Reflects on the Anniversary of Hurricane Helene

Jackie Henry, who was part of the Hope for Helene steering committee, shared why the event was an important aspect of the region’s recovery. “As a psychologist, I know that whether it’s individual trauma or collective disaster response, the single strongest predictor of recovery isn’t the severity of what happened to us — it’s the quality of support we receive afterward. Social connection literally rewires our traumatized brains, helping us move from hypervigilance back to trust, from isolation back to belonging.”

“After Helene, our trauma was met with an outpouring of love and support that transcended political and social divides and honored our shared humanity. The Hope After Helene events rose organically from that very same spirit of generosity — a community choosing to heal together.”

View images from Hope After Helene

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Analise Brown, Registrar & Administrative Assistant, Office of Presbyterian Youth and Triennium, Interim Unified Agency
Joey Brown, Associate, Direct Mail and PILLARS, Administrative Services Group, A Corporation       

Let us pray:

God of comfort and renewal, we remember those who were affected by the storms and the long road of recovery that followed. We give thanks for communities that come together in compassion, support and shared hope. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: North Carolina pastor looks back at impact of Hurricane Helene

It’s been over a year since Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina. Different metrics are used after a natural disaster to measure its impact: the number of lives lost (248 recorded), the number of homes destroyed or damaged (some estimates as high as 200,000), the dollar amount of economic losses (in North Carolina alone estimates exceed $54 billion), and how much it will cost to rebuild (some estimates exceed $200 billion). Hurricane Helene’s numbers are staggering, and they tell only a fraction of the story of how life changed that day in September 2024.

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A few weeks after Hurricane Helene's destruction, the Rev. Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop was pictured in the sanctuary of the Asheville, North Carolina church she serves, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Hurricane Helene was not just a hurricane; it was also a devastating geologic event. The storm triggered more than 2,000 landslides in our region. In the area I live in, 16 people died in mudslides, some of which were several miles long. The storm spawned multiple tornadoes. All told, Hurricane Helene took out at least 40% of the trees in Buncombe County.

Like many other churches, the church that I pastor, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, sprang into action right after the storm hit. We opened our doors and figured things out together. At the six-month mark after Hurricane Helene, we had done more than $5.5 million in rent support for storm survivors. We had done over $500,000 in utility bill support, and we have no way to count all the free supplies we have handed out. Over a year later, we, alongside some of our community partners, are still doing rent support, providing free supplies, and assisting those facing utility bill shut offs. Many of our service economy workers are not back to full-time hours. Some of them worked for businesses that no longer exist. Some of them work for businesses that are not sure they are going to make it.

Rent support means that when you hit a hard stretch because of a job loss, a health emergency, or a natural disaster, you have a way to get your rent paid to avoid eviction. At Grace Covenant, we created a low-barrier application system because of the sheer magnitude of the disaster. Hundreds of people were lined up at our door every day, even months after the storm. In July 2025, we opened one day of the month for rent support and had 110 apply. We were able to stop 23 evictions that were already in the courts for a total cost of $67,000. And we assisted many others who were in immediate danger of eviction. In one day, we spent $110,000 to help keep people housed. 

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Like many other PC(USA) congregations, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church sprang into action following Hurricane Helene's devastating impact. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Even in the best of times, rent support has the capacity to be a thread that strengthens the whole economic ecosystem. It supports renters by helping them stay housed and avoid having an eviction on their record. Having an eviction on your rental history makes future renting very difficult, if not impossible. Rent support helps property owners because evictions often end up costing those who own rental properties. Rent support supports business owners by keeping a trained workforce in place. And rent support helps the whole community stabilize after a natural disaster.

The rent support we did at GCPC did not come from any state or federal funds.  Over 60% of our donations were from private donors all over the world. The rest of the funds came from grants disbursed by local philanthropic organizations like the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County and Dogwood Health Trust, as well as grants from the City of Asheville and Buncombe County. 

As our country settles into this next phase of climate change, epochal weather events will be more frequent and more devastating. Our collective resolve to take good care of each other in this historical moment can be about something other than political polarization and competing claims about truth and consequences. Human beings can adapt, and we can learn from difficult experiences about how to strengthen what makes us a nation in the first place: we, the people. The better we are at disaster responsiveness and sharing resources with those most impacted, the safer and stronger local communities will be. The safer and stronger our local communities are, the safer and stronger our nation will be.

The Rev. Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop is pastor and head of staff at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, North Carolina.(Click here to read original PNS story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Jenny Barr, Reference and Outreach Archivist, Presbyterian Historical Society, Interim Unified Agency
 Andrew Kang Bartlett, Associate, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

God of mercy and refuge, we remember all who were harmed by Hurricane Helene and who lost loved ones, homes, work and stability. Hold communities in Western North Carolina in your healing care and strengthen all who continue the long work of rebuilding. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Holston Presbytery's hurricane disaster response

The Rev. Dr. Ramy N. Marcos, the pastor of Erwin (Tennessee)
Presbyterian Church, talks with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
representatives about the church's response to Hurricane Helene.

The Presbyterian Disaster Assistance solidarity visit following Hurricanes Milton and Helene concluded last week with a day in Holston Presbytery in Tennessee, where resilience, innovation and togetherness were on display just as they were throughout the 10-day visit. 

Those qualities came to the fore at Erwin Presbyterian Church, where the Rev. Dr. Ramy Marcos, a distinguished scholar and pastor who grew up in Egypt, has served for about 18 months. Marcos and others got to work on hurricane relief the day after Helene departed Tennessee on Sept. 27.

Read Full Article

Let us join in prayer for:

Heather Colletto, Administrator, Presbyterian CREDO, Board of Pensions

Bill Collins, Custodian Maintenance, Stony Point Conference Center, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

God of all people, your care for each of us strengthens us to go out and tell others the good news. We trust in your call to be disciples of Jesus and to be instruments of your mission wherever we go. We pray that our eyes and ears are open to answer your call every day of our lives. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Generators donated to Hurricane Helene victims

Representatives of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance visit with leaders
from Salem Presbytery at Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church in
Blowing Rock, N.C., to hear about work the churches have been doing
to respond to the impact of Hurricane Helene.

The next-to-last day of the solidarity visit Presbyterian Disaster Assistance held with churches and mid councils affected by the September hurricanes focused on Salem Presbytery in north-central North Carolina. 

In a meeting with PDA’s director, the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo, and the Rev. Dr. Jim Kirk, PDA’s Associate for National Disaster Response, at Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church in Blowing Rock, church leaders in Salem Presbytery shared some of what their faith communities had been through since Sept. 26–27. 

Read Full Article

Let us join in prayer for:

• Antonia Coleman, Administrative Project Manager, Visioning, Rebuilding & Innovation Office, Presbyterian Mission Agency
• Octavia Coleman, HR Generalist, Administrative Services Group, (A Corp)

Let us pray:

Gracious Lord, sustain and nurture us that we may have a deep and vital faith. Through Christ we pray. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘This place looked awful’

PC(USA) congregations impacted by Helene and Milton have arrived at different solutions for moving forward

Pastor Bobby Musengwa (center) of Maximo Presbyterian Church in St.
Petersburg, Fla., talks about the church’s experience with Hurricanes Helene
and Milton with Valerie Young (left), synod executive and stated clerk of the
Synod of South Atlantic, and the Rev. Jim Kirk, associate for National
Disaster Response for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. (Photo by Rich
Copley)

Just a few days before visitors from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Synod of South Atlantic, the Presbytery of Tampa Bay, together with the Executive Director and Stated Clerk of the General Assembly for the interim unified agency, the Rev. Jihyun Oh, arrived at Maximo Presbyterian Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Bobby Musengwa, told visitors, “this place looked awful.”

Hurricanes Helene and Milton damaged the Alegria Montessori School badly enough that the church had to terminate the lease, a terrible blow to the dozens of international students attending school there. Without access to the sanctuary, the congregation had to get creative worshiping in-person and online from church offices. “The intimacy of the worship experience is really important to us,” Musengwa said. “God knows what we need.”

“It’s a perilous hour for us,” Musengwa told the visitors. “Thank you for being with us.”

“We’re here so you know you’re not alone in this process,” the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo, PDA director, told Musengwa. “PDA works in communities affected by these disasters.”

Ruling Elder Patricia Brown, interim music director for Maximo
Presbyterian Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., played the church’s
piano, which was in the flooding from Hurricanes Milton and Helene,
but not destroyed. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Musengwa said that one way PDA has helped was to “help us understand we can ask for things from [the Federal Emergency Management Agency].”

The Rev. Doug McMahon, director of Religious Life and Chaplain at nearby Eckerd College, which is related to the PC(USA), said Eckerd’s 1,850 students are due back on campus this weekend after taking four weeks of online instruction following the hurricanes. While many faculty and staff lost their homes to the winds and floods, the “spirit of resiliency is good,” he said. “It’s hard to see them go through that, but there are so many stories of people helping one another.”

The Rev. Lissa Bradford, who serves the church, and Lynn Hoy, clerk of session and treasurer at Church on the Bayou in Tarpon Springs, said church leaders have decided they will sell the flood-damaged church and its 5.5 acres, largely as a result of the church not being able to afford insurance premiums. “There was 22 inches of water in every building. That never happened before,” Bradford said. “The estimated cost to make everything safe is $100,000 and we don’t have it. We weren’t insured for that kind of a loss.”

“Reality being my favorite place to be, we’re going to sell the campus,” Bradford said. For now, the church is nesting in the Presbyterian Church of Palm Harbor. Bradford says her role is “to just do the next right thing.”

Among the 16 presbyteries in the Synod of South Atlantic, 11 have churches that were damaged, said Valerie Young, synod executive and stated clerk.

Members of First Presbyterian Church in Leesburg acted fast to get water out of the basement, saving the flooring, said John Caldwell, who handles maintenance and other duties at the church. Twenty volunteers turned out last weekend, some with chainsaws, to clear  debris from around the church campus. “There was water in places it’s never been,” he said. “If we’d waited on the restoration companies, the floor would have been bad. We saved a lot of stuff.”

Representatives from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Office of
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Synod
of South Atlantic, and the Presbytery of Tampa Bay met with leaders
of the Church on the Bayou in Tarpon Springs, Fla., which suffered
major damage in Hurricanes Helene and Milton. (Photo by Rich
Copley)

The cleanup crew included 80-year-olds and grandchildren “picking stuff up” and clearing the property, he said. The Rev. Olivia Haney, interim co-executive presbyter of Central Florida Presbytery, marveled at how churches in the presbytery got to work following the hurricanes.

“When we were checking on people, a retired minister said, ‘This is not our first rodeo. We know what to do,’” she said.

“After Hurricane Andrew,” Caldwell said, “this was just a weekend.”

“Our commitment is for the long-term,” said González-Castillo, a pastor in Puerto Rico seven years ago when Hurricane Maria battered the island. “We’re still sending volunteers there,” he said. “That’s the promise we have.”

“If nothing else,” Young said, “know people across the Synod of South Atlantic are in prayer for you.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

• Jackie Carter, Project Manager, Media & Publishing, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
• Katie Carter, Manager, Faith Based Investing, EDO, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that in you the old has passed away and all things become new. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Two years after floods, presbytery works to support neighbors impacted by hurricanes

Churches in Transylvania Presbytery gather to fill disaster relief buckets for communities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton

The Rev. Philip Lotspeich, general presbyter of the Presbytery of
Transylvania, participated in the event and said communities in Eastern
Kentucky are still working to recover from flooding two years ago.
(Photo by Rich Copley)

https://vimeo.com/1021868586

More than 60 members and staff of at least eight churches in Eastern and Central Kentucky’s Presbytery of Transylvania gathered in the fellowship hall of First Presbyterian Church of Lexington on a recent Sunday afternoon to fill large buckets with a plethora of supplies needed to begin recovery from a natural disaster like a hurricane or a flood.

The effort was in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which ravaged communities in the southeastern United States from Florida to Virginia in September and October. It was also inspired by the outpouring of support Eastern Kentucky received from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) and other organizations two summers ago following catastrophic flooding in 16 counties in Transylvania Presbytery.

The Rev. Philip Lotspeich, the presbytery’s general presbyter, said that two years later, people are still working to recover from the floods that came with little warning.

“I don’t know if that’s paying it forward or paying it back,” said Rev. Linda Kurtz, associate pastor of Christian Formation at First Presbyterian, who co-organized the bucket brigade with the Rev. Hannah McIntyre, pastor of Pisgah Presbyterian Church in neighboring Versailles, Kentucky.

Rev Linda Kurtz with two others organizing disaster relief supplies
(Photo by Rich Copley)

Kurtz noted that many of the churches that experienced flooding in 2022 contributed to the drive either financially or by bringing supplies. In all, the effort involved nearly 100 people and raised more than $13,000, and funds remaining after expenses for the bucket project are paid will be donated to PDA. One of the donors was a lay pastor in Eastern Kentucky who lost his car and suffered significant damage to his property in the floods.

“We know how effective cleanup buckets can be and how important they are in the initial mucking out,” Kurtz said.

When she heard that hurricane response had put a significant dent in the supply of buckets PDA and Church World Service had on hand, Kurtz said she and McIntyre were inspired to put together a bucket effort to help replenish supplies for continued hurricane response or “for the inevitable next disaster.” That Sunday’s event resulted in 117 completed buckets.

The Rev. Hannah McIntyre of Pisgah Presbyterian Church in Versailles,
Ky., was co-organizer of the bucket event. She led the volunteers in
prayer before the bucket filling began. (Photo by Rich Copley)

The fellowship hall at First Presbyterian resembled the home-goods aisle at a grocery store with heavy garbage bags, dishwashing detergent, gloves, and many other items on tables arranged in a horseshoe. Participants grabbed a bucket and proceeded around the tables taking each item and stuffing them into the buckets.

At the end of the line, lids were put on the buckets, they were sealed and loaded on a truck that delivered them to a CWS distribution point in Indianapolis.

“We are overwhelmed with the response from this presbytery,” McIntyre said, “and not just these churches that were here today, but churches from across Transylvania Presbytery. It’s been amazing.”

Rich Copley, Multimedia Producer, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Let us join in prayer for:

• Becky Burton, Data Entry Representative, Ministry Engagement & Support, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
• Kelly Cahill, Business Administrator, Information Technology, Board of Pensions 

Let us pray:

Gracious God, may your sacrificial love on the cross move us to the genuine offering of ourselves in obedient service for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - 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

November 26, 2024

Extending assistance to the community has included not only 

supplies but emotional support as well. (Photo by Mary 

Katherine Robinson/Black Mountain Presbyterian Church)

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 wreaked havoc from Florida to southern Appalachia. It was blamed for more than 200 deaths across multiple states and necessitated emergency rescues to save the stranded.

“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, 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.

The church is a Hunger Action Congregation of the Presbyterian 

Hunger Program with an established commitment to making sure 

people are fed. (Photo by Mary Katherine Robinson/Black 

Mountain Presbyterian Church)

“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.”

Representatives from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance have 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.”

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is one of the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. To donate to hurricane response, click here. To contribute to Black Mountain Presbyterian’s Hurricane Relief Fund, go here.

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Daily Readings

• Morning Psalms 12; 146
• First Reading Zechariah 11:4-17
• Second Reading 1 Corinthians 3:10-23
• Gospel Reading Luke 18:31-43
• Evening Psalms 36; 7

Today’s Focus: Black Mountain Presbyterian Church supports community after Hurricane Helene

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Rachel Anderson, Mission Associate for Strategy and Implementation, Global Connections, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Shelby Andrews, 1001 Apprentice, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

Gracious God, our constant prayer is that you will nurture the seeds of faith in our lives, pouring out your grace and mercy upon us as we grow in discipleship together. Amen.