Churches flood in North Indiana

July 11, 2003

Churches flood in North Indiana

By Matthew Oates

After several days of rain across North Indiana, the number of churches affected is slowing rising.

In recent e-mails to the Hoosier United Methodist News, the Rev. Nancy Richmond of Pennville United Methodist Church, located in Jay County in the Muncie District, reported that more than five inches came into the church basement and the parsonage basement, with lots of damage to both.

According to Richmond, the rain just didn't hit the church. "One member of the church has more than three feet of water in their basement," Richmond wrote. 'I'm thinking about looking up the directions to building an ark."

In Kokomo, a community that has felt the brunt of the numerous storms, nothing is safe. On July 5, Kokomo St. Luke's UMC had about four inches of water on the main floor of the church at the communion rails.

"The sump pump literally had nowhere to put the water because the storm sewers were overloaded. We also had water come in the narthex from the parking lot, because of the same storm sewer problem, and soak carpets in the narthex, three hallways and several offices and classrooms. It has been a challenging cleanup. We do not yet know if some carpeting is ruined and will have to be replaced," said the Rev. Mike Dominick.

At White Oak UMC, according to the Rev. Karen Rhoades Welling, cleanup is well underway and the church is planning on using the building despite all that is going on. "The insurance company has been contacted and will be out this coming Monday to check the basement out," said Welling. Six inches of rain warped some paneling, possibly ruined the carpet and got into the stove area. "This is the third time this spring and summer the basement has flooded," she wrote in an e-mail response.

Brent Williams, NIC treasurer, said on July 7 he had not heard of any damage across the conference, where counties are being declared disaster areas. "We have worked with our churches so they know to call the insurance company immediately with a claim. Our office may not know of a problem for quite some time.

"The congregation is 'family' church so we pull together when things like this happen. Even in the midst of all this, the people are having a good time working together. We know that God is in control and that God is good all the time. We are more fortunate than many around us."

If you have flooding to report to Hoosier United Methodist News, send you e-mail to editor@inareaumc.org or call 317-924-1321.

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