A Upper New York DVOCATE€¦ · A PUBLICATION OF THE UPPER NEW YORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE...

ADVOCATEA PUBLICATION OF THE UPPER NEW YORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9 - SEPTEMBER 2012

Being God’s love with our neighbors in all places

Upper New York

www.unyumc.org

REMINDER: ITEMS SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION ARE DUE ON THE 5TH OF EACH MONTH FOR THE FOLLOWING MONTH’S ISSUE.

By Beth DiCoccoAdvocate writerBy 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, the mem-

bers of Nimmonsburg United Methodist Church in Binghamton could tell they would be flooded; the water was seeping into the parking lot. Some 40 people were on hand working on an aqua dam as well as emptying out the first-floor rooms.

Nimmonsburg UMC had been through floods before: in 2005, in 2006, and now, five years later, it was happening again.

The fire department came around 9 p.m. and be-gan pumping from the hydrant, but to no avail. The water came into the church at around 11:30 p.m.

When it was over, the church had taken on 5 feet of water – 1.5 feet higher than in 2006.

“It was heart-wrenching to see all that effort,” said the Rev. Eileen Sloth, who is beginning her third year as pastor at Nimmonsburg UMC. “There was a lot of loss, but not what it could have been.”

Because of the previous floods, the church had

taken some precautions, such as putting file cabinets on rollers so that they could be easily moved to the upper floor.

“If there was any grace (in having been flooded before),” Rev. Sloth said, “it was that they knew what they were doing.”

Fourteen miles away at Park Terrace United Methodist Church in Apalachin, 500 of the com-munity’s 2,000 homes were affected by the flooding.

But the church wasn’t damaged, and during the early days without power, its gas stove meant a hot meal for anyone in need.

The Rev. Sara Baron, Park Terrace pastor, said the church opened its doors to VIM teams and the community; members each finding their own ways to help.

One woman sat at the fire station and talked with people who were coming in to get water and other assistance. A group of school kids collected baking sheets and measuring cups so families could bake Christmas cookies. Another volunteer, whose aller-gies prevented her from working in damaged homes, helped out with paperwork.

The church’s annual Christmas Tea became a flood-relief event; those attending got a break from cleaning their homes and some Christmas orna-ments to replace those they’d lost to the flood.

Continued on page 3

A year after the destructive storms of 2011, the churches and communities of the Upper New York Annual Conference are working their way back from the devastation. Lounsberry United Methodist Church in Nichols (Binghamton District) is one of the more than 30 churches affected by the flooding that fol-lowed Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee in late August, early September 2011. The photo on the left shows the church as it appeared last month. The photo on the right was taken about three days after the flooding. The mark indicating the water level can be seen between the door and light on the white building. The water did not reach the sanctuary, but ruined everything in the first floor including the brand new kitchen and tiled floor. Read more about Lounsberry UMC on page 3. Photos courtesy of Lounsberry UMC.

Rising above the waters

Middleburgh UMC’s feeding a need

Page 5

District superintendents called on to listen, be present

Page 6

Look back in photosPages 8-9

Passing Through the WatersWorkshops offered help

to those affectedPage 13

Flooding 2011: By the numbersPage 14

Check in with churches making repairs

see updates throughout

CCYMSign up for Mission Possible!

and Fall Gathering Page 15

AlsoNews briefs, remembrances,

Conference calendar Page 16

INSIDE

Bishop Webb

Welcome Bishop Webb

See page 16

Upper NY churches, communities still recovering from 2011 floods

There will be a Service of Installation for Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb on Sept. 30 in Syracuse.

Also, Bishop Webb plans to tour the Conference’s 12 dis-tricts in October.

The Upper New York United Methodist AdvocatePage 2 • September 2012

How to Reach UsBISHOP’S OFFICEUpper New York Area Episcopal Office of The United Methodist Church324 University Ave., 3rd Floor, Syracuse, NY 13210Phone: (315) 422-5027 Fax: (315) 422-5304

CONFERENCE OFFICEUpper New York Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church324 University Ave., 3rd Floor, Syracuse, NY 13210Phone: (315) 424-7878; toll free: (855) 424-7878Fax: (315) 424-0975

ADVOCATE STAFF

EDITOR/PUBLISHERRev. Maidstone Mulenga

Director of Communications(315) 424.7878 x307

[email protected]

DEPUTY EDITORBeth DiCoccoConference

writer/editor(315) 424.7878 x319

bethdicocco@ unyumc.org

DESIGNER/WRITERChristian Vischi

Communications associate

(315) 424.7878 x313christianvischi@

unyumc.org

E-ADVOCATE/WEBAshley VanSickle

Multimedia/web coordinator

(315) 424.7878 x320ashleyvansickle@

unyumc.org

ADMIN. ASST. to the director

Karen Campolieto(315) 424.7878 x304karencampolieto@

unyumc.org

IT MANAGERClyde Wolford

(315) 424.7878 x322clydewolford@

unyumc.org

UPPER NEW YORK UNITED METHODIST

ADVOCATERESIDENT BISHOP Mark J. Webb

EDITOR/PUBLISHER Maidstone Mulenga.

Upper New York United Methodist Advocate is a monthly newspaper of the Upper New York Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, whose mission is to be God’s love with all our neighbors in all places. Materials in the Advocate may not be reproduced unless the item is accompanied by a copyright notation.

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Adirondack DistrictSuperintendent William Mudge396 Louden Road Saratoga Springs, NY 12866-5332 (518) 584-8214 x11 Fax: (518) 584-8378 Email: [email protected]

Albany DistrictActing Superintendent Janice Palm396 Louden Road Saratoga Springs, NY 12866-5332 (518) 584-8214 x10 Fax: (518) 584-8378 Email: [email protected]

Binghamton DistrictSuperintendent David Masland53 McKinley Ave. Endicott, NY 13760-5497 (607) 748-0662 Fax: (607) 748-0549 Email: [email protected]

Cornerstone DistrictSuperintendent Sherri Rood663 Lakeview Ave. Jamestown, NY 14701 (716) 665-2423 Fax: (716) 665-3763 Email: [email protected]

Crossroads DistrictSuperintendent Darryl R. Barrow324 University Ave. 3rd FloorSyracuse, NY 13210Phone: (315) 424-7878 x312 Fax: (315) 424-0975; toll free: (855) 424-7878Email: [email protected]

Finger Lakes DistrictSuperintendent Richard Barton1 Franklin Sq., Suite 301,Geneva NY 14456(315) 781-0188 Fax: (315) 781-0199 Email: [email protected]

Genesee Valley DistrictSuperintendent Theodore Anderson1100 South Goodman St. Rochester, NY 14620(585) 340-9525 Fax: (585) 340-9526 Email: [email protected]

Mohawk DistrictSuperintendent Sung Ho Lee105 Genesee St. New Hartford, NY 13413 (315) 797-1777 Fax: (315) 797-5702 Email: [email protected]

Mountain View District Superintendent Cathy Stengel65 E. First St. Corning, NY 14830 (607) 962-8047 Fax: (607) 962-8045 Email: [email protected]

Niagara Frontier DistrictSuperintendent Wayne Butler131 John Muir Drive West Amherst, NY 14228 (716) 564-2316 Fax: (716) 564-2365 Email: [email protected]

Northern Flow DistrictSuperintendent Rebekah Sweet95 E. Main St. Gouverneur, NY 13642 (315) 535-5149 Fax: (315) 535-5151 Email: [email protected]

Oneonta DistrictSuperintendent Jan Rowell66 Chestnut St. Oneonta, NY 13820 (607) 441-5102 Fax: (607) 441-5102 Email: [email protected]

MEDIA RESOURCE CENTER53 McKinley Ave., Endicott, NY 13760Diane Alexander, media resource center coordinator(607) 757-0608 [email protected].

DISTRICTS

Amherst Media Resource Center closesBy Christian VischiAdvocate writer

The Amherst Media Re-source Center ceased opera-tions effective Sept. 4, and its resources are being trans-ferred to the Media Resource Center in Endicott.

The Endicott Center will continue its operations, providing local churches in the Upper New York Annual Conference (UNYAC) ac-cess to thousands of media resources, all shipped directly to the local church.

The Rev. Bill Gottschalk-Fielding, director of Connec-tional Ministries, said that a variety of factors have led to this decision: the sale, this fall, of the former Western New York Conference Center building where the Amherst Center is currently housed; the planned retirement at year’s end of Amherst’s Media Resource Coordinator Sheila Rader; and the desire to bet-ter align Conference resourc-es with mail-order delivery, which is the way the majority

of local churches receive the media resources they borrow.

“This was not an easy deci-sion,” Rev. Gottschalk-Fielding said. “Staff and I wrestled with it through most of the summer. But in the end, I felt this was the best way to ensure that all Upper New York Conference churches will have access to a vital and sustainable media resource ministry.”

In order to provide churches near Amherst with the option of “walk in” service, the UNYAC has formed a partnership with the Presbytery of Western New York Media Resource Center in neighboring Williamsville. The Conference will supple-ment the Presbyterian Cen-ter’s current materials with a variety of United Methodist-specific resources on loan from the Conference.

Rev. Gottschalk-Fielding said he will be exploring similar partnerships in other regions of the state in order to expand the options avail-

able to more churches.Sheila Rader, who will

retire this year after 13 years, will be working this fall to as-sist churches in the Amherst area in making this transition.

Diane Alexander, Endi-cott’s media resource center coordinator, will be adding some additional space and clerical hours to facilitate the new arrangement.

Alexander will also be developing new ways for the UNYAC’s Media Resource Ministry to bring resources to local churches through district and regional events.

About the centerAlong with lending re-

sources, the center staff pro-vides consultations on choos-ing curricula and Bible studies, ideas for ministry with chil-dren, youth and adults, and acts as a referral and research source for questions.

The center hosts on-site workshops on a number of topics including Christian edu-cation, Vacation Bible School,

small group, and confirmation to name a few.

Other services include:• Meeting space for educa-

tion teams; this provides an opportunity for them to see the Resource Center first-hand

• A space for previewing materials

• VBS support through networking and sharing of support materials, scenery and props

• Full AV resource sup-port for Schools of Christian Mission Studies and UMW programs

• Equipment loan• Research and evaluation

of the resources for content, inclusiveness and doctrine

• Hundreds of free-loan resources available for church ministries

• An up-to-the minute online catalog of resources searchable by title, author, subject and keyword

• Prepared topical and seasonal bibliographies on a multitude of subjects

STORY IDEASThe Advocate is always looking for news and story ideas. E-mail story ideas to:unyadvocate@ unyumc.org.Please include a phone number so that we can follow up. Or you can call Beth DiCocco, Advocate deputy editor, at (315) 424-7878 ext. 319.Photos can also be sent via email. Please send hi-res versions, at least 300 dpi at full size.

CorrectionInformation in the bio of

the Rev. John Loeser that appeared in the July issue was incorrect. Rev. Loeser earned his M.Div. from Methodist Theological School in Ohio.

September 2012 • Page 3The Upper New York United Methodist Advocate

Continued from cover“(Church members) got to

feel proud of themselves and see the ways they were mak-ing a difference,” Rev. Baron said. “Looking back, it was the best ministry that the church and I have done together.”

Variations on these two scenarios played out across the Upper New York Annual Conference as two storms – first Hurricane Irene on

Aug. 28, and then less than a week later, Tropical Storm Lee brought torrential rains and devastat-ing flood-ing.

Some three dozen Confer-ence churches were damaged to some extent – a few, suf-fered significant losses. Mean-while, many, many others became temporary shelters, provided meals and clothing as well as hearts and hands to help their communities.

By Friday, Sept. 9, 2011, the water was gone, and by that Sunday, the “main body of gunk was off the floor” at Nim-monsburg UMC

– but for them and so many others, the work of recover-ing was just beginning.

Now, one year later, much has been accomplished, but there is still a great deal to be done.

“When you come into town, there’s a lot of smiling faces; on the other hand, a lot are still dealing with homes that they have no clue if they will ever be rebuilt,” said the Rev. Jeff Rauhauser, pastor of

Middle-burgh United Methodist Church (Oneonta District). “The one thing I re-ally can’t stress enough to all

the churches and people out there: This work is not done. This job is far from over.”

A report by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office bears that out. According to state esti-mates, the storms did $1.5 bil-lion in damage in New York.

Of New York’s 62 coun-ties, 38 were hit by at least one of the storms; the trail of destruction crossed the Catskills and parts of the Hudson Valley and continued into Broome and Tioga coun-ties.

According to the report, which was issued late last

month, the state has awarded $574 million in aid to com-munities and individuals; $137 million of that went to seven counties deemed hardest hit: Broome, Tioga, Delaware, Greene, Orange, Schoharie and Essex.

The Rev. Donna Martin pastors two churches in Tioga County – Tioga Center and Smithboro UMCs (Bingham-ton District).

“The only reason I am understanding that it’s a year later, is because I remember ... Greg Forrester (recovery director for the Conference), saying, ‘This is a marathon, not a sprint,’” said Rev. Mar-tin.

Rev. Martin said that six of seven properties she and her husband, the Rev. Daniel Mar-tin, who is pastor at Nichols United Methodist Church, are involved with sustained some degree of flood damage. Tioga Center UMC sustained significant damage (see story on page 11).

“I am now of the mindset that it will be years before we recover,” Rev. Martin said.

For Tioga Center, the next goal is to be back in the sanctuary by Christmas Eve. Immediately after the flooding, the church set its sights on being back in the Fellowship Hall for worship by Christmas Eve 2011; they were. Rev. Martin said she’s not as sure they will make the goal this time.

While some parishioners are motivated, others have not been able to move for-ward.

“There are still people who are not able to come back into the church; their church is gone,” she said, adding that some who came during the first weeks after the flooding have since drifted away.

As for where things stand right now, “It isn’t over, but gets better every day,” Rev. Martin said. “I can talk about it without getting emotional ...”

She does not, however,

talk about things returning to “normal;” that’s not possible, she said. Instead, it’s a matter of finding a new normal.

As she’s told her congre-gation: “... nothing will ever be the same again. From this point forward, your lives are changed ... events here changed us profoundly, we can’t go back. We need to figure out how to cope from here forward.”

She advised them to “look back only long enough to see what was good, bring that forward, bring that into the unknown, knowing God is with us.”

“They are responding,” she said. “They understand.”

A strong ministryHelping to create that

new normal are hundreds of volunteers who have helped with the cleanup and rebuild-ing efforts.

According to Forrester, 1,000 volunteers have served in excess of 40,000 hours. More than 90 percent of volunteers have come from outside New York state, he said.

Since January, the UNY Disaster Response Team has hosted 19 VIM teams at Middleburgh UMC and 27

teams at the Endicott Volun-teer Center, which opened in October at the former Wyoming Conference Center and houses 24 volunteers.

“It’s phenomenal,” For-rester said. “It’s a great facility. With all the heat (this summer), the volunteers could come back to central air and get some good rest.”

At any given time, both volunteer hosting sites are working with 15 -20 families to help them restore their homes. As homes are com-pleted, additional families are added to the project list based on available volunteers and resources, Forrester said.

UNY Disaster Response is working as a collaborative partner with each region’s long-term recovery commit-tees, he said.

“It’s been a good minis-try,” said Jack Hill, Albany District VIM coordinator, who is coordinating the recovery effort in Middleburgh. “In my viewpoint, it’s probably one of our strongest as a United Methodist Church – people can see it, sense it; it’s real.”

For Forrester, the ecu-menical nature of the recov-ery effort is one of the most gratifying aspects. In Middle-burgh, he said, there has been

nice cooperation among the denominations.

“Each of the churches were sustaining themselves, but by working together, they will now be able to thrive together,” he said. “I love the ecumenical part. It will leave the community stronger than it was before. It’s crucial for the restoration.”

Hill is in Middle-burgh every week, and said he’s been im-pressed by the volun-teers.

“The best thing is, too, it looks like team members – the regulars, if I can call them that – show no signs of get-ting tired (or saying) ‘enough’s enough,’” he said. “It’s been anything but that ... we have energy.”

When asked what he thinks keeps them go-ing after nearly a year, he said, “I think they recognize the need, how im-portant they’ve

become to these people who have no other avenue. They are their only means for having a new life, for getting rebuilt, refocused ...”

People in the flood zone are still facing challenges when

it comes to getting to that new life. Some are wrangling with insurance compa-nies or waiting to hear if FEMA will of-

fer them a buyout so they can move to higher ground. Of the thousands of things taken by the flood, some have already been replaced, others never can be. And for many a heavy rainfall still brings anxiety.

People who were victims of the flood “are not lucky in the traditional sense,” Rev. Baron said, yet she found most would focus on their good fortune: Those with 8 inches of water in their basement called themselves lucky compared to those who had water on the first floor; they, in turn, felt fortunate to have moved their stuff to the second floor; while those who had water on the second floor were grateful to have friends to take them in, she said.

These are people who are facing the “nastiest work they would do in their lives,” and “all I was hearing was grati-tude,” Rev. Baron said, “it was mind blowing.”

Flooded areas are returning to a ‘new normal’

Forrester

The story of the 2011 flood is one of devastation but also of recovery and hope. Upper New York churches like Nimmonsburg United Methodist Church (Binghamton District) pictured above suffered damage and losses, but also came together to rebuild and renew themselves. The recovery has been aided by volunteers like these pictured below who came to work on homes in Middleburgh (Oneonta District). Above photo courtesy of Nimmons-burg UMC; below photo by Beth DiCocco.

Rauhauser

Martin

Hill

Sloth

Baron


By Beth DiCoccoAdvocate writerA lot of the work done

by volunteers in the wake of flooding involved cleaning up.

But the mucking out, removing debris and tearing

out walls and floors are just part of it, said the Rev. Carol Coltrain, pastor of Hunt-ersland United Method-

ist Church just outside Mid-dleburgh (Oneonta District). There’s sweeping, too.

“They are sweeping sun-shine into a dark corner,” Rev. Coltrain said, borrowing a phrase from a friend. “That’s what the volunteers are do-ing, sweeping sunshine into dark corners – physically and emotionally and spiritually.”

Many of those sweepers are members of Volunteer in Mission (VIM) teams, like Scott Fellows, who, in early August, led a VIM team of 13 to Middleburgh from Culpep-per, Va.

Fellows, a firefighter, is a member of one of FEMA’s 26 urban search and rescue teams that are deployed all over the world in the wake of disasters. This was his eighth VIM trip and his first time as leader.

“New York is still very special to me,” said Fellows, who grew up in Ithaca. “It’s home, though I don’t care for the winters.”

Leading a team here is a chance, he said, to show peo-ple that there’s more to New York than New York City, and to see his family, including his brother the Rev. Brian Fel-lows, pastor of St. Paul’s UMC in Oneida (Mohawk District).

St. Paul’s sponsored the building of a six-stall shower trailer (see story in the July 2012 Advocate) designed to serve volunteers working in the Northeastern Jurisdic-tion. Finding accommodations in disaster areas that have shower facilities is an ongoing struggle.

“We wanted to go where the trailer was,” said Fellows, who helped do some work on the trailer in February.

His work as a VIM team leader is “that opportunity to do something,” Fellows said. “God has blessed me with

some skills and some great people to teach me. It’s my turn to give back and help teach others and rebuild some homes.”

The efforts of VIM teams like this one that come from around the Conference or across the country are very meaningful to a community that’s reeling from a disaster, said the Rev. Jeff Rauhauser, pastor at Middleburgh UMC.

“From what I’ve seen, these strangers, I shouldn’t say strangers ...,” he said. “When they leave, they’re not strangers; they’re friends, they’re colleagues. ...

“They come in, work hard, pitch in, plaster, paint – they go to a person’s house they don’t know and they do this work for, basically, a smile,” Rev. Rauhauser said. “The people are so appreciative; they can’t say enough about the volunteers. They’re just thrilled to death that some-body has not forgotten them.”

When the flood is no lon-ger in the news, Rev. Rauhaus-er said, people fear they will be forgotten, even though for them, the disaster isn’t over. Knowing these volunteers have not forgotten, “that means a lot to these people,”

he said.“It does something ... when

people who have no con-nection to you show up and say, ‘We’re here to help you rebuild your life,’” said Rev. Coltrain. “When it’s your family or your neighbors, it’s wonderful and you appreciate it, but it’s expected. It does something special to people (when it’s) people who have no stake in it except they want to help.”

The Rev. Donna Martin, pastor at hard-hit Tioga Center UMC (Binghamton District) agrees that while members of her church have done tremendous work them-selves, sometimes people from outside the community are exactly what’s needed.

A VIM team that came to Tioga Center from Ohio in late July, made a big differ-ence, Rev. Martin said (See

story on page 11). The congregation had “hit

a wall” in terms of being able to move forward with the re-building work. Having a group come in and pick up that task, made a huge difference, she said.

“These people came in like angels descending on the church,” she said, and it meant that “something got done that they (the church members) didn’t have to do.”

Many of those who were affected by the flooding be-come volunteers as well. They pay it forward, said Jack Hill, a member of Valley Falls UMC (Albany District) who is co-ordinating the flood recovery effort in Middleburgh. While they may need help on their own homes, they can offer something to others as well.

Take Steve Klenna, for ex-ample. Klenna’s Middleburgh

home needed significant repairs (see story in the July 2012 Advocate), but he was not able to make them him-self. In fact, United Methodist volunteers working on the house, also widened door-ways to help accommodate the wheelchair Klenna is likely to need soon.

“Steve Klenna has become a partner in some respects,” said Hill. “He’s a large man with limited capacities, but he can drive his truck – a dump truck. ... He has been driving the truck when they have vol-unteers to help pick up trash around the community.”

Being able to help makes it easier to accept help, accord-ing to many who have worked with those affected by disas-ter.

But what about when the church, which feels called to help the community, itself needs help?

That was the question faced by the Rev. Eileen Sloth, pastor of Nimmonsburg UMC (Binghamton District). In addition to dealing with the church’s third flood in six years, about 30 to 40 from the church were affected to some degree, she said.

For a time, the sign in front of the church read “We need help.”

Rev. Sloth admitted that she struggled with that idea and it made her feel a bit guilty. Yes, the church needed help, but the church was also supposed to be helping as well. But she said of her church’s members, “It was their third flood; they were tired.”

Even so, they served a free daily lunch for about two weeks after the flooding. During that time, the sign out front read: “Tired and weary? Lunch is on us.”

Rev. Sloth told the story of one woman who saw the sign and came in for lunch. Dur-ing the meal, she talked about her losses and her family in Nevada.

“She came back to the church around Advent with flowers and a card, and said, ‘You were truly a gift from God that day,’” Rev. Sloth said.

The gratitude, the smiles, the tears in the homeowners’ eyes are enough, Fellows said.

“We had been in the parking lot 5 minutes, when a gentleman walked over and thanked us for coming to help out. That’s a great way to start the week ...,” he said.

Flood-area volunteers are ‘sweeping sunshine’

Coltrain

Hundreds – individuals, school groups and VIM team members – volunteered to take on the difficult, dirty work of cleaning up after the 2011 flooding. RIGHT: VIM team leader Scott Fellows (left) led 13 volunteers from Culpepper, Va., to help out in Middleburgh. Top photo courtesy of Central Endicott UMC; bottom photo by Beth DiCocco.

“The one thing I really can’t stress enough to all the churches, people out there: This work is not done,” said the Rev. Jeff Rauhauser, pastor of Middleburgh UMC. “We still need VIM teams, still need volunteers ... It’s not over. ...”

To volunteer, contact Greg For-rester, Conference disaster recovery director, via email at [email protected].

Volunteers needed Update: Gallupville UMCThe Rev. Matthew Rowe, pastor, provided this update:

Repair work is continuing on the Oneonta District church and parsonage, which both sustained damage. The basements in both buildings were “filled to the top” with water, so the furnaces, water heaters and electrical boxes had to be replaced. An Amish family worked on mucking out the basements.

A room at the back of the parsonage had to be torn down and rebuilt; the good news, Rev. Rowe said, is that while the former room wasn’t really usable, the new room can be used by the youth.

Additional repairs include landscaping, filling in holes

on the grounds and pointing up a corner of the church’s foundation. The floors had to be re-varnished; that work is completed.

A hole the size of “a large swimming pool” was filled in with soil provided by a local farmer, who is the grandson of a long-time member of the church.

The congregation has helped the community by removing debris as well as helping repair a home in Schoharie. The older members, who could not help with that work, pitched in by providing meals through the ongoing program at Middleburgh United Methodist Church.


By Beth DiCoccoAdvocate writerFlood victims, volunteers

and anyone in the community who needs a meal can find a place at the table at the Middleburgh United Method-ist Church (Oneonta District).

The church, which had 2 feet of water in the basement but was otherwise undam-aged, sits in the heart of this

com-munity that was ravaged by flood-ing. The church became a gather-ing place when, almost imme-diately,

it began serving dinner each evening to those displaced by the flood and the volunteers who came in to help them.

It was – and is – a com-bined effort that includes the Catholic, Reformed and Lutheran churches in Middle-burgh, as well as United Methodist churches from across the connection.

“God had a plan for this church,” said the Rev. Jeff Rauhauser, who pastors Middleburgh and Grosvenors UMCs (Oneonta District).

The flood recovery still has a long way to go, he said, and “in the meantime, we’re here for (the community); for talking to, being their shoul-der to cry on or complain to, whatever they need. That’s a big role the church has as far as taking care of the commu-nity; it’s a place to come and almost grieve the loss of their house and what they’ve gone through.”

“It’s taken on a life of its own,” Rev. Rauhauser said of the dinners. “I can’t say enough about Gloria Gebhard and the teams from surround-ing churches. It’s really her passion, her ministry that’s kept it going.”

Gebhard, who has been attending Middleburgh UMC since 1998, coordinates the effort and heads the regular kitchen crew of about seven volunteers. That core team includes members of the

Reformed and Catholic churches.

The church served meals daily through December 2011, then cut back to once a month in January, unless they are providing daily dinners for a VIM team.

“It’s been great; every-body’s enjoyed it,” she said. “We get worn out a little from time to time, but we’ve had breaks, and it’s worked out well.”

She admits the months of November and December were “really hectic,” but she felt that it was important to be part of the recovery effort after seeing what others were going through.

Gebhard did not sustain any damage to her home, but the house rented by her son and his family was flooded; they moved in and stayed until April.

“I can’t even imagine” what it was like for those who lost everything, she said.

“It was so terrible. Even though we were impacted when they moved in with us – thank God we were able to have them – whatever we could do, that’s what we were trying to do.

“It was just wanting to do something to help, and not knowing what to do; I cook, and not knowing what else to do, that’s what I could do,” Gebhard said.

She took on the task of coordinating when different churches would be staffing the meals and what food items were being donated. When she found the website www.caringmeals.com, it made the task a lot easier; it allows volunteers to sign up on their own and sends alerts to Geb-hard, as well as reminders to the volunteers.

About 15-20 commu-nity members come to the Wednesday dinners these days, along with any VIM teams who are working in the area.

Gebhard said she believes most who attend now are not displaced, but just need a meal.

“I have two churches in Schoharie Valley – they’re hearty folk ... they deal with adversity by getting support not only from each other, but

from organizations like the church, VFW, American Le-gion – places they can go and be a group,” Rev. Rauhauser said. “We play an important role as far as that goes – not only our church services, but dinners – our (upcoming) Harvest Dinner – the commu-nity will get together for that. ... (These are) a good time to catch up on how everybody is doing and talk through this tragedy we’re still going through.”

In order to help ensure the Wednesday night meals continue, Gebhard said they are talking with the Re-formed Church and others about picking up hosting one Wednesday a month to share the workload.

Being able to work togeth-er and call on one another is one of the good things that has come out of this tragedy, she said.

“We had a 300th anniver-sary for Middleburgh (early August) and had an ecumeni-cal service and picnic,” Geb-hard said. “Everybody bonded together over this; everybody just kind of mingled together, which is great ... probably better than they would have otherwise.”

But it wasn’t just the churches, she said; individuals

have also pitched in offer-ing what they can – a pot of tomato sauce or some melons from the garden.

“People still want to help; they’re still trying to see what they can do. It’s been great. It has been terrific, the amount of people that care, who

come from all over; that’s been amazing,” Gebhard said, adding that she has been im-pressed by the young people who “have given up their breaks to work in Middle-burgh.”

“Incredible,” she said.

The Lao Good News con-gregation is like many small churches that have found op-portunity for improvement in the wake of the flooding.

But it’s a little different for this daughter congregation of Westover United Methodist Church in Johnson City (Bing-hamton District).

“Westover is an elderly congregation that has dimin-ished over the years,” said the Rev. Eric Jensen, Westover pastor. “The Laotian congre-gation was a big help, because they have younger members.”

The Lao congregation worked under the guidance

of Dave Alexander, outreach director at nearby Endwell United Methodist Church, who came about four months after the flood with VIM teams and tore everything out of the basement.

“It was like a bombshell hit the basement,” the Rev. Sonxay Chanthasone said. “We lost everything.”

After everything was removed, the churches moved the kitchen into an unused classroom.

“Somehow the Lord put on my mind, ‘Oh, I should move the kitchen. Ask the church permission to move the

kitchen,’” said Rev. Chantha-sone, who is a full-time chef and volunteers at the Endwell UMC soup kitchen.

To understand the contri-butions of the Lao congrega-tion, you have look down at the floor. Prior to the flood, it was a plain “ugly” cement floor. Once the walls were painted, Viengsy Malaythomg and her husband, Dee, decid-ed to donate money for tile. Dee is a professional handy-man, so he worked as advisor on the project, and all of the Lao congregation helped out for two nights – working until 9 p.m. after having worked all day at their jobs.

As to why they did it, the explanation is simple Phout Chamleusouk said: “Nothing to talk about; just do it.”

His wife, Moukda, added: “Very sad to see everything ruined by the flood. Thank God I had neighbors – from children to adult – to help. Very happy and thank God for that.”

The congregation hopes to open the improved space up to the community for meet-ings and private events as an outreach program. A lot of Laotians in the community are Buddhist, so opening the building is also about open-ing minds, according to Rev.

Chanthasone.According to Viengsy,

Alexander was a Godsend be-cause he came in and wanted to know how he could help.

“If we didn’t have him, we wouldn’t be here. Right now, we’re so close to him.”

The Lao congregation would also like to thank the VIM teams from North Syra-cuse, Rochester and Lansing, Pa., who helped them.

– Lisa Jo Bezner, is a licensed local pastor who is pursing a master’s in sacred theology at Boston University School of Theology.

Middleburgh churches are feeding the need

A core group of seven volunteers from churches in Middleburgh come together each week to serve a community meal at Middleburgh UMC. The weekly meal grew out of the daily din-ners that the church put on for months after the floods. The volunteers also prepare dinner daily for any Volunteers in Mission (VIM) teams that come into the village to work. On Aug. 8, a VIM team from Virginia and 10 community folks ate at the church. Photo by Beth DiCocco

Rauhauser

In their own words Hear those affected by the flooding and as-

sisting with the recovery talk about their experi-ences via video interviews at www.unyumc.org

Update: Lao Good News UMC


By Christian VischiAdvocate writerOf the 38 United Methodist churches in the Upper

New York Annual Conference that filed an insurance claim because of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, a ma-jority are in the Binghamton and Oneonta districts.

But the connectional nature of United Methodism meant that care for clergy and churches in need came from around the Conference, crossing district and county lines.

Binghamton District Superintendent the Rev. David Masland and Oneonta District Superintendent the Rev. Jan Rowell had, and continue to have, the enormous task of

assessing and coordinating care to and between churches in their respective districts.

From identifying open parsonages to accommodate a night’s or week’s stay for a Volunteer in Mission (VIM) team to linking a meal site with poten-tial cooks, the district superintendents have pushed the “unlimited calling” plans on their phones.

“I made a lot of phone calls; (keep-ing) in phone touch with pastors,” Rev. Rowell said. “A lot of listening. A lot of

checking in and listening.”That listening is important because in a time of need it

is all about presence, Rev. Rowell said.“(It’s about) opening ourselves to the deeper needs

of the community and making ourselves available,” Rev. Rowell said.

“We had a work day on Columbus Day where we invit-ed people from the district and neighboring areas to come and work … that was in the Middleburgh-Schoharie area of the flooding. Just being present; when there is a service of prayer in the community to be there for that.”

Rev. Masland described a similar experience: “The needs varied a great deal, but I made contact with the pastors and listened to their story ... offered words of encouragement. My role was to listen a lot to the pastors and to offer my support, encouragement and love, and to pray with them and for them.”

That support came not only from the local district su-perintendents, but also from hundreds of miles away.

Rev. Masland and Rev. Rowell were contacted by Northern Flow District Superintendent the Rev. Rebekah Sweet, saying pastors in the North Country wanted to provide respite for their clergy.

“So Dave and I were invited to identify a couple of pas-tors that the Northern Flow clergy would provide (accom-modations for) a week, all expenses provided,” Rev. Rowell said.

One pair of clergy who took up the offer literally sighed with relief, she said. “They had both been so much on the ground.”

In the Binghamton District, similar offers were made, but it wasn’t always easy to get clergy to say yes.

“In a couple of cases they couldn’t even get out to get to someplace safe, because the whole community was sur-rounded by water,” Rev. Masland said.

The district was able to help facilitate getting “a couple of families in hotels for a couple of nights, but it was dif-ficult because these are really committed people.”

One reason, he said, is guilt. “They have a lot of guilt about leaving, even for one

night,” Rev. Masland said. The Casowasco and Sky Lake camp and retreat centers

were available, he said, “but it was hard work to get them to do it.”

A flood of responseMany local churches offered manpower, and goods and

services to the local churches in need; you could say the response to help came flooding in.

“It is hard to think of a church that hasn’t helped in one way or another,” Rev. Masland said.

“It is a safe statement to say practically every church in the Binghamton District has been involved in flood response,” he said. “Providing meals, especially during the crisis times, providing water to volunteers, offering places for people to sleep ...”

In many of the communities, the fire station became the crisis-response center, and the area churches were bring-ing meals to the station to feed the volunteers.

“My Administrative Assistant Rosemary DiIorio was great,” Rev. Masland said. “She kept lists of people who volunteered to help or had things to offer, places where there were needs. She and I were regularly making phone

calls to connect people and needs.”Rev. Rowell said many of the

volunteers were affected by the flood themselves in some way. A prime ex-ample is her administrative assistant, who was, and continues to be, one of the coordinators.

“The people who wanted to pro-vide those community meals often were impacted in their own home,” Rev. Rowell said. “Teresa Wood is still out of her own home. That is a little glimpse that people are still deal-

ing with temporary housing – it will take a long time for there to be long-term solutions to some of these things. (We still see a lot of) families living with other family.”

One of the lessons from this, Rev. Rowell said, is the need to be adaptable, not just in terms of how to provide care – meals, temporary housing and VIM crews – but in how The United Methodist Church does church.

“We need to learn to be an adaptive church,” Rev. Row-ell said. “The folks have had to be adaptive, that is part of how God is leading us, what God has to teach us out of this. We have certain skills and gifts and a desire to serve.”

One example of when that adaptability was needed was on Sept. 18, 2011, when 15 members of the Broad Street UMC in Norwich planned to serve a hot meal to members of the Sidney UMC (both Oneonta District), where more than half of the church’s members suffered severe losses in the flood, and the church building and the parsonage were flooded with several feet of water.

A miscommunication meant folks from Sidney did not come, but the Broad Street UMC volunteers followed the example of Jesus’ parable about the wedding banquet and went into the neighborhood, inviting anyone they could find to the free meal.

Ultimately, they served more than 50 people, includ-ing teenagers at a nearby playground, hazardous material workers from Georgia and Florida who were helping with the cleanup, and two Sidney police officers who were on near-constant vigil in the flood-battered village. Leftovers were taken to the Sidney Moose Lodge, which was being used as a shelter for displaced residents.

Adaptability “applies when there is no flood, it applies to the time we are in,” Rev. Rowell said. “Being adaptive means when the needs of the community change, you change with it, being present for people.”

Change also requires trust. “I think what happened was that the United Method-

ists in our area and throughout the Conference stepped forward and showed who they really were. And one thing that we learned is that we can trust each other,” Rev. Masland said. “I think we are better prepared for the future because we have learned that we can count on each other.

“The people have learned skills by the floods of 2011 and each has learned how better to respond as leaders. Every single church has seen themselves at their best. ... God worked through us, there was a need, we took a step of faith... and God helped us make a difference in people’s lives.

“Our connection is very significant; it can transform lives,” he said.

Rowell Masland

Being present, listening biggest roles for DSs in hard-hit districts This account was written

by Mildred “Millie” Kielmann, 80, and her daughter Dorothy Rowe. Kielmann is organist at Centre Glenville United Methodist Church in Glenville (Albany District).

The residents of Rot-terdam Junction had little time to prepare for the rising waters that engulfed their tiny community nearly a year ago. I personally had less than 30 minutes to evacuate my century-old home on Main Street.

The water inundated many of the homes on the street behind me, crept into my basement and flooded the entire first floor. On the Sunday fol-lowing the flood, the Rev. Eric Kerwath, pastor at Centre Glenville Methodist Church, asked me to share my story with his congrega-tion; I spoke of the devasta-tion that affected nearly 75 percent of my friends and neighbors.

The rapid outpouring of assistance was overwhelm-ing, from strong hands moving sodden carpets and mucking out the ankle-deep mud to soothing hands of-fering a bottle of cold water and a sandwich.

And the assistance came from every group imagin-able – Boy Scouts, college students, the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Charities and, of course, my friends at Cen-tre Glenville UMC.

I am one of the lucky ones, having moved back into my home six months after Hurricane Irene did her damage.

Catholic Charities and the Centre Glenville UMC continue to be a presence in the rebuilding process; they provide meals and fi-nancial assistance, as well as maintain a list of specialty craftsmen – i.e. carpenters, electricians and masons – every one of them vol-unteers, who, when called upon, do their best to help however they can.

I feel deeply grateful for the outpouring of support – both physical and spiri-tual – that I have received throughout this challenging time.

‘I am one of the lucky ones ...’

Update: Central Bridge UMCThe Rev. Brenda Tompkins, pastor,

provided this update:

The church sustained water dam-age to the basement of the Oneonta District church hall due to the terrific amount of water falling over those days. All is repaired and in working

order. The church passed out flood

buckets to local folks, sent out bagged lunches to flood victims and workers and provided meals several times for the feeding ministry provided through the Middleburgh United Methodist Church.

Many also helped muck out one of our own members, who lost nearly everything in the flood. He has since relocated to a senior living center. We're hoping to continue helping with providing meals, and perhaps get a work crew together in the future.


Entering fellowship hall a big step for OwegoBy Lisa Jo BeznerSpecial to the Advocate

On July 22, when the Rev. Alan Jagger announced that fellowship would follow the service at fellowship hall, the congregation at Owego Unit-ed Methodist Church (Bing-hamton District) responded with cheers and applause.

It was their first Sunday back in that space since floodwaters from Tropical Storm Lee almost filled the first floor.

More impor-tant, it was their latest step into the future.

On the night of the flood, Rev. Jag-ger and

his wife, Holly, who is the director of music at Owego UMC, stood in the street with about 50 of their neigh-bors watching water from the Susquehanna River creep up the street and meet creek wa-ters in a whirlpool outside of the glass-enclosed connector between the Wesley House and the church.

They realized the 2 feet of water jeopardized the connector and the history, re-cords and music in the offices just beyond. Wading in ankle-deep water, the Jaggers tried to save the music by moving the drawers filled with some 30 copies of 505 anthems to the top of the cabinets.

A cracking sound sent them running to Wesley House, then to the church where they saw a window-pane break and the waters flow in.

Despite their efforts, the water, this time, was too much, and they lost all of the music, choir robes, the floor plan of the buildings and the history, all of which had been kept in offices on the first floor.

That Sunday they were prevented from getting into the building by 4 to 5 feet of water. It would be nearly three months before the air quality was good enough to allow them to have services in the sanctuary, which had

otherwise escaped unscathed.“I walked to the church;

the water was on the steps,” said Nelda Lynch, a member of Owego UMC. “There was a feeling of sadness, a feeling of ‘what next?’’’

What came next was that Owego UMC members were invited to worship at St. Pat-rick’s Catholic Church, just down the street.

According to Rev. Jag-ger, the two churches had a good relationship developed through various ecumenical activities, but there was some tension between the two churches.

But “sitting in their sanctu-ary and worshipping meant so much to the people” that he “could feel a healing happen-ing there in some major way.”

Mass was at 9:30 a.m. and

Owego UMC worshiped at 11 a.m., but to do communion at a Catholic church was an “amazing experience,” Rev. Jagger said.

In the final two weeks at St. Patrick’s, an offering of $1,050 was collected to defray the costs of hosting Owego UMC and left at the church. The next day, they got a phone call: St. Patrick’s was returning the money.

“It meant even more to have it given back,” said Rev. Jagger. The special offering went into a youth ministry for underprivileged youth.

Returning to Owego UMC for worship on the first Sun-day of Advent coincided with the 140th anniversary of the sanctuary dedication so they had a rededication ceremony.

Krista Carter Schaffer and

her young daughter Mikenna Pozzi have started attending the church more frequently since the flooding. “It was like coming home,” Mikenna said.

Finding a visionAnother step taken shortly

after the flooding was form-ing a visioning committee to guide their recovery. The committee was suggested by Binghamton District Super-intendent Dave Masland, and guided by retired pastor K. Gordon Brownlow, who went into ministry after being an engineer, and Jeff Stafford, a member of Chenango Bridge UMC (Binghamton District).

The visioning committee changed the mentality from getting back as quickly as possible to taking the time to consider who Owego UMC is and who they want to be, which connected rebuilding to a new vision statement.

Before any rebuilding, Owego had to decide if they even wanted to stay in the location where all six build-

ings were flooded: the Wesley House, sanctuary, connector building, Barton Education building, outbuilding and the parsonage.

Then they set priori-ties with the least-damaged education building being fixed first, according to Jack Spald-ing, chairman of the trustees. The education building was built with a flood in mind, so the boiler is on the second floor.

The next priority was fel-lowship hall because it had been the site of the Allied Christians of Tioga dinners, held there every Thursday night since the 1980s; eight churches in the community take turns serving. The meals currently take place at First Presbyterian United Church.

According to Lynch, people who regularly attend the din-ners ask: “‘When are we go-ing home?’ and that’s probably because it was born here.”

While fellowship hall is open for after-service fellow-ship, it can’t be the site for the dinners yet because they still need a kitchen and bath-rooms, according to Spalding. Plans call for a simpler kitchen than they had before because all the rebuilding is being done with the effects of the flood and the cost of replacement in mind.

The cost of rebuilding has been greatly reduced by the enormous outpouring from volunteers in mission, who came from as far away as South Carolina and Ohio, as well as local folks such as the man who parked in the lot for three weeks while helping and a man from Ithaca who tore down and rebuilt their furnac-es, charging only for parts.

“There’s a new attitude, a new awakening in the church as to what we can be in the future,” Rev. Jagger said. “(It’s) already attracting a lot of younger families – even though we’re still stifled by not having everything.”

“It was kinda like the Lord, maybe, showing us what we needed to be doing all the time,” said Lynch.


ABOVE: On July 22, mem-bers of Owego UMC enjoyed their fellowship hall for the first time since the flood-ing. Decisions are still being made on how to repair the kitchen, which is sealed off in the background. LEFT: the fellowship hall in the early stages of the recovery. Photos courtesy of Owego UMC.

Update: Newark Valley UMC“I was panic stricken with

all that water,” said Penny Zimmer, the custodian at Newark Valley United Meth-odist Church (Binghamton District), who was the first to see 5 inches of groundwater reaching to the next-to-last step in the church basement on Thursday morning, Sept. 8, 2011.

Zimmer alerted the Rev. Nancy Adams, pastor, who immediately began call-ing church members asking for pumps. Even with three

pumps, it was slow going since they were connected to garden hoses.

Then they received a call from a member’s father in Ithaca, asking if they wanted the last one available at the store, which had a much larger hose.

Adams said, “Yes!” On Sept. 10, 2011, the

church had a “Bring Your Own Shop Vac” party. The Boy Scouts and their parents and the staff of the School Age Child Care (SACC) cen-

ter at the church were among those who showed up to help.

SACC was hard hit; they lost couches, carpets, books and toys, which was “way more than $50,000 damage,” according to the insurance adjuster. SACC was relocated to a couple of Sunday school rooms and a little kitchenette until the second week of Janu-ary.

“People just came forth with donations. It was just great,” Rev. Adams said of do-nations to SACC from parents

and the community.

More blessingsThe food pantry usually

only serves those with New-ark Valley phone numbers, but was opened to anyone in the days following the flood-ing. They received so many donations that church board members went door to door with donations – including grocery cards and gas cards.

“They came back saying what a blessing that was,” said Rev. Adams.

Among the blessings was a surprise visit from Bishop Marcus Matthews and Confer-ence Director of Communi-cations the Rev. Maidstone Mulenga, who arrived at a Newark Valley regular prayer meeting shortly after the flood.

“It really impressed me that the bishop came. And he prayed with us,” Rev. Adams said.

– Lisa Jo Bezner

Jagger

Page 8 • September 2012 The Upper New York United Methodist Advocate

2011 flooding hit Upper New York hard

TOP OF PAGE: Piles of trash and people’s belongings lining the streets was a common sight in the aftermath of the flooding. ABOVE: More than six months after the floods, this Middleburgh home stood empty, many of its muddied contents piled out front.

ABOVE: One of the many, many volunteers who donned masks and gloves to do the dirty work of mucking out and tearing out walls and floors so homes and churches could be repaired and rebuilt. BELOW: The exterior of Owego UMC (Binghamton District) as it appears now and the way it looked shortly after the flooding.

Thousands of volunteer hours have been spent helping to clean up and rebuild in the aftermath of flooding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee in late summer 2011. This is just a fraction of the photos taken over a period of several months by Maidstone Mulenga, Beth DiCocco, Clyde Wolford and Mike Huber. In some cases, the photos were provided by the churches.

RIGHT: A photo of debris taken out of Tioga Center UMC (Binghamton District). The church hopes to be back in the sanctuary by Christmas Eve. LEFT: Greg Forrester is direct-ing the recovery effort for the Conference. He has estimated it will take four to five years to complete the rebuilding. With Forrester is the Rev. Sara Baron, pastor of Park Terrace UMC in Apalachin. An estimat-ed 25 percent of the homes in that community were affected by the flood.

ABOVE: Bishop Marcus Matthews visited Owego UMC shortly after the flooding. RIGHT: Cornerstone District Superintendent Sherri Rood and other members of the Cabinet spent a day in the Binghamton District helping with flood cleanup.


2011 flooding hit Upper New York hard

TOP OF PAGE: Piles of trash and people’s belongings lining the streets was a common sight in the aftermath of the flooding. ABOVE: More than six months after the floods, this Middleburgh home stood empty, many of its muddied contents piled out front.

ABOVE: The flood water damaged woodwork inside Owego UMC (Binghamton District). The church was one of the most severely affected in the Conference.

ABOVE: Volunteers from Elma UMC (Niagara Frontier District) volunteered at two homes and Tioga Center UMC (Binghamton District) in October 2011. BELOW RIGHT: Middleburgh homeowner Jaque Riley talks about the dam-age to the home along the banks of the Scho-harie Creek that she’s lived in for more than 20 years. BELOW: A volunteer helps by doing some painting during a work session after the Oneonta District Day in March.


Update: Plattsburgh UMC

Apalachin First United Methodist Church be-came a shel-ter because it sat above the flood-waters that reached up Pennsylvania Avenue in September 2011. Above: The area today. Photos courtesy of Apalachin First UMC.

Update: Fonda-Fultonville UMC

Update: Sidney UMC

Update: Peru Community FederatedWhile the town of Peru received

a $1 million interest-free loan from the state’s Hurricane Emergency Loan Program (HELP) to repair storm-water infrastructure dam-aged by Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Irene, the Peru Commu-nity Federated Church (Adirondack District) fared pretty well.

Amanda Connelly, office man-ager at the church, said the dam-age was isolated to the steeple and sanctuary, and was relatively easy to repair.

“We were very lucky,” Connelly said.

The water came in around the steeple, affecting the metal fascia and creating a leak on the side of the sanctuary, down the back wall.

Repairs have been fully remu-nerated by insurance and nothing irreplaceable was damaged by the water.

“(The flooding) was a big deal to some,” said Connelly, but fortu-nately “not really in our area.”

– Christian Vischi

The Fonda-Fultonville United Methodist Church in Fultonville (Al-bany District) is built on a concrete slab. To “save the knees” of those working in the kitchen, according to the Rev. Nancy Pullen, a wooden floor was installed.

Although the storms of 2011 damaged the church, the real cul-prit was flooding in 2006.

Rev. Pullen, pastor, said they didn’t have insurance to cover the 2006 damage, but they were able to dry out the floor enough to save it. Or so they thought.

“It turned out that what hap-pened in 2011 just exacerbated the situation,” Rev. Pullen said. “We had been okay after 2006, but after 2011, our kitchen floor had to be replaced.”

The floor hadn’t completely

dried from the flooding of five years prior, and the 6 to 8 inches of wa-ter in 2011 damaged the floor, some cabinets and music that had been stored there.

“The music director had sheet music drying out all over her house,” Rev. Pullen said.

This time, “when they came in to replace the floor it was all wet underneath,” she said. New tiles have been laid over the concrete and rubber mats have been installed to provide cushion for those knees.

The church also has “made ad-justments in how we store things,” said Rev. Pullen, who acknowledged flooding is rare there.

“I was born and raised in this church (and these two floods were the) only time in my lifetime,” she said. – Christian Vischi

For the Plattsburgh United Methodist Church (Adirondack District) less means more.

The Rev. Marion Moore-Colgan, pastor, said the relatively minor damage has actually meant a longer time frame for repairs than if they had more extensive damage.

Flooding was not an issue for the church – it is a safe distance from the Saranac River and Lake Champlain – however the combination of driving rain and the church’s flat roof means leaks through-out the building are a concern. A tree branch also fell on a small utility building away from the church.

As for the leaks, “we are trying to get engineers from the trustees of the Conference to look at what else can be done,” Rev. Moore-Colgan said. “We did some initial stuff to hold it.”

After a review by the insurance company, Rev. Moore-Colgan said the church would have received only $100.

Rev. Moore-Colgan said the organ, one of the more historic and valuable pieces within the church, is safe, but the leaks could be “long-term issues that we have to fix,” she said. – Christian Vischi

Update: Cedar Lake UMC

Update: Apalachin First

Update: Shenendehowa UMC

The Cedar Lake UMC (Mohawk District) sits slightly above the road in front of it, so drainage away from the church was not an issue during Hur-ricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. However, the storms’ wind and the rain were, causing damage to the steeple and, ultimately, interior damage.

But, according to Rev. Sharon Rankins-Burd, pastor of both churches, the insurance company has denied the churches’ claim.

“The insurance company told us was that there was no way to prove that the damage was caused by the hurricane,” Rev. Rankins-Burd said.

The leakage from the steeple “came through the attic, ran across the ceiling (and left) water marks and water stains,” she said, but no repairs have been made yet.

The Sauquoit Valley UMC fared much better, Rev. Rankins-Burd said, with only an inch of water in the basement, which the church was easily able to address.


The Shenendehowa UMC in Clifton Park (Albany District) is a safe distance from the Colonie Res-ervoir and the Mohawk River, and suffered no damage from Hurricane Irene or Tropical Storm Lee.

But the parsonage was a differ-ent story.

Jay Dunkleburger, chair of the church’s board of trustees, said the rented parsonage had base-

ment flooding that caused $8,000 in damage. But the tenant performed the repairs and was paid the insur-ance claim as the flood damage was limited to the tenant’s “stuff stored there and his improvements.”

“He did all the cleaning up,” said Dunkleburger, who said the likely culprit was a failed sump pump.


It was around 2 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, when a knock on the Apalachin First United Methodist Church door defined what their mission would become.

It was a family stranded as the floodwaters from the Susquehanna River blocked all roads out of this hilltop town in the Binghamton District.

The door was answered by church secretary Karen Powers, who had fled to the church with her family around 11 p.m. She would answer the door several times during the night – another knock coming just as it seemed she had gotten everyone comfortable.

By the next morning, the church had become a temporary home to several families and their pets, but they had minimal bedding and food available.

When the Rev. Mary Jean Simonin, pastor, and church members heard about the impromptu shel-ter their church had become, they emptied their refrigerators and brought whatever bedding they had available to make people more comfortable.

“We were the church, we were what we needed to be,” Rev. Simonin said.

A couple days later the church became a Red Cross shelter for the people who found their way there or were brought by the fire department.

Being a Red Cross shelter meant food had to be prepared in the kitchen or at a business, so all the homemade food had to be tossed out. Church members responded by making breakfast for the 10 days they were an official shelter.

Food donations poured in: Phil’s Chicken House donated food that had been prepared for a party that was cancelled, Wegmans donated vegetable trays and people brought apples from orchards.

A benefit of being a Red Cross shelter was two nurses – from Washington and Iowa – were there around the clock to care for the people who had taken shelter there.

– Lisa Jo Bezner, is a licensed local pastor who is pursing a master’s in sacred theology at Boston Univer-sity School of Theology.

Members of the Sidney United Methodist Church (Oneonta District) went through a flood in 2006, so when the water was coming, they “rallied immediately,” said the Rev. Susan Heafield.

“They were prepared; they knew what to do,” said Rev. Heafield, who has been pastor there since 2010. “They had lots of people on tap before the water got into the church and brought everything up that they possibly could. They saved a lot this time around that was destroyed the time before.”

The lower part of the church flooded nearly up to the ceiling, but the water didn’t hit the ceiling, so that did not have to be replaced. In the parsonage, the basement flooded, and there was1.5 inches on the first floor.

Rev. Heafield was visiting family in Montana, but pa-rishioners put her piano on blocks to save it.

As far as remodeling, she said a member who is a retired contractor (he also helped remodel in 2006) led the project, and had the work “done in record time.” They were back in the church in about a month.

The emotional recovery, however, is still going on, she said.

“I think the emotional impact hadn’t dissipated from 2006; that part was still raw. The 2011 flood added insult to injury ... there are a lot of discouraged people,” she said.

“The best way that they re-sponded was through making possible for the food bank to continue,” Rev. Heafield said.

Still, it was tough for them as a team from the church to reach out to the commu-nity. A few gathered to walk through Sidney and offer sup-port, but not many.

But Rev. Heafield said the church is going to try again. The church was planning to commemorate the flood on Sept. 9 with a worship service followed by some short work projects and a meal.

“I think it’s very important ... because I think there are lots who still do need help,” she said. “I’m wanting to have Sidney (UMC) out in the com-munity in positive way (at this one-year anniversary), and I know people in church want that as well.”

The Rev. Peggi Eller, pastor, provided this update:

The Guilford UMC (Oneonta District) had nearly 4 feet of water in the lower level, which houses the Our Daily Bread Food Pantry and the Friends Helping Friends Thrift Shop. While all of the food and the refrigerators were saved as the water was rising, all of the items in the Thrift Shop were lost. Re-pairs to the lower level were completed before the end of the year. The food pantry was relocated in January, but continued to serve through-out the time by relocating to the Fellowship Hall. The thrift shop reopened in June.

Update: Guilford UMC


By Lisa Jo BeznerSpecial to the Advocate

“Have you seen the gift they left?” asked Drew Griffin, lay leader at Tioga Center United Methodist Church, as he gave the Rev. Donna Martin, pastor, a tour of the sanctuary on her first day back at the church after course of study.

“They” are volunteers in mission from Pleasant Hills (Ohio) UMC Youth Group, who removed the upper lay-

ers of flooring in the sanctu-ary. “The gift” was an in-scription on floor boards at the

sanctu-ary entrance: “Pleasant Hills UMC 2012 Youth Group.” (See photo right).

It was one of many gifts the Tioga Center UMC (Bing-hamton District) has received since their sanctuary, fellow-ship hall and parsonage were filled with at least 30 inches of floodwater in the wake of Tropical Storm Lee on Sept. 7 and 8, 2011.

Jeff Barnes, trustee chair, was the first person to arrive at the church on Sept. 10. The mud was everywhere. It had ruined the hymnals and Bibles in the pew racks; the organ, piano, sound system, pew cushions, rugs and the oak flooring in the sanctuary. The fellowship hall counters, cabinets and their contents were also ruined.

A few stacked chairs – those at the top of the stacks that weren’t knocked over by the water – survived.

“There was mud over all the stairs,” said Jim Newbury, who headed the cleanup. “We couldn’t clean up because we were tracking the mud.”

Local farmer Keith Brink solved that problem by bring-ing in equipment normally used to spray crops to wash off the outside steps.

“I was surprised nobody said ‘We can’t do it.’ They just started ripping and tearing,” said Barnes. “They may have been bored because there wasn’t any electricity,” he added with a smile.

There was no electricity for two weeks and no running

water, which meant no toilets. That first weekend the only place to go to the bathroom in Tioga Center was at the fire station (the proper per-son hadn’t called to request portable toilets).

The church was the first place to receive electricity so it could “light up the commu-nity.”

The next big milestone came at the end of Septem-ber, when the portable toilets were removed.

By that time, 4 feet of the walls in the fellowship hall and sanctuary had been removed, and the bathroom was usable, thanks to a modesty curtain hung by Carol Barnes.

“The bathroom door was swollen from the floodwater and didn’t close all the way, but at least we had a door,” Newbury said.

Once everything was torn out, the church sat down with Rev. Martin to figure out what they wanted to do first.

They decided to start with fellowship hall because it was the easiest to repair and they wanted to be able to serve as a community gathering spot. Their target date was the an-nual Christmas Eve combined service with Smithboro UMC, where they were worshipping during the rebuilding.

On Sunday, Dec. 11, ser-vices returned to Tioga Cen-ter. But they had a problem: not enough hymnals for the combined service. Luckily, a church in Alaska mailed them two boxes of 1964 hymnals that arrived Christmas Eve day. The bulletin included two sets of hymnal pages.

Then they received para-ments, new hymnals and Bibles from the recently closed Rolland Avenue UMC near Buffalo as well as free Bibles, hymnals and a Book of Discipline from Cokesbury.

Returning to Tioga Center also meant a mission begun in the spring, Clothes Club-house, would finally open. The Clothes Clubhouse gathers clothing to give to children in the school district; it was scheduled to open the first day of school, Sept. 7, which was when the rain began.

“We lost some of our clothes, but not all of them,” said Carol Barnes. The cloth-ing was moved to the Smith-boro basement, where they operated from September through November.

The Clothes Clubhouse began with a microgrant from

the Upper New York Annual Conference, which helped cover start-up costs and provide gift cards to get new shoes at Kmart.

“There’s still work to be done to figure out how to make things work and store clothes – particularly as we work through the rest of this rebuilding process,” said Car-ol Barnes, especially since the clothing is currently stored in Rev. Martin’s office.

According to Jeff Barnes, getting back has brought a sense of accomplishment, but they still have work to do; their goal is to get back into the sanctuary by Christmas Eve.

Much of the work in the

sanctuary so far has been done by member Dick Harris, 76, who helped with clean-ing up and rebuilding. He also painted the entire fellowship hall, and refinished the pews, pulpit, lectern and other pieces of furniture. Ed Loun-sbury, 82, has worked at the church almost daily.

“We didn’t have a lot of younger, able-bodied people among our congregation,” reflected Jeff Barnes.

So they have had to rely on United Methodist VIM teams; also helping was a group from Casowasco Camp & Retreat Center, led by Associate Director of Camp and Retreat Ministries Mike Huber, and Bishop Marcus Matthews and

his Cabinet, who spent a day working on wiring, insulation and drywall.

There have also been col-lege students, high school students, Scouts, Mormon Helping Hands, and Nomads on a Mission Active in Divine Service (NOMADS) lending a hand.

Of all the gifts, the ones offered by Tom Dickinson of Virginia stick out for Jim Newbury.

Dickinson is an experi-enced disaster relief person who makes wooden crosses from materials found at the different places he’s volun-teered.

He presented Tioga Center UMC members with crosses from a Louisiana home he worked on after Hurricane Katrina. He took wood from Tioga Center UMC to make crosses for the next place he’ll work.

For Dickinson, the crosses are a sign of hope, renewal and the connectionalism of The United Methodist Church.


Many struggles, many gifts for Tioga Center

ABOVE: The sanctuary at Tioga Center UMC is a work in progress. Parishioners hope to be worshiping in the sanctuary by Christmas Eve this year. LEFT: Is the sanctuary in 20111. BELOW: The message left of a VIM team from Ohio that came to work on the church this summer. Photos courtesy of Tioga Center UMC and Lisa Jo Bezner.

Martin

Update: Emmanuel UMCThe Emmanuel UMC in Bolton Landing (Adiron-

dack District) is approximately 1,000 feet from the shore of Lake George.

Although the church was safe – no rivers had crested their banks in the area and Lake George was not at flood stage, the heavy rains associated with the storms of 2011 did damage the basement.

The Rev. Henry C. Frueh, pastor, said the small church was fortunate; “It was pretty minor damage.” The wall-to-wall carpeting was ruined, along with wallboards. A sump pump was also knocked out of commission.

“But it was very manageable,” said Rev. Frueh.

“The insurance company responded well; (we re-ceived) about $10,000 from the insurance.

“It is an example of a small church that is very ap-preciative of the very fast response of the insurance company. ... A small church can be struggling, and it doesn’t take a whole lot to deeply discourage a small church. ... We are grateful for the insurance we have through the Conference, it only made a bump for us in the road.”

Rev. Frueh said the basement is again fully usable and that no church members immediately came to mind who suffered a significant loss or damage dur-ing the storms. – Christian Vischi

Update: JordanvilleThe Jordanville Federated Church (Mohawk

District), located 35 minutes southeast of Utica, was nearly unscathed by the storms of 2011.

The Rev. Scott Hocking, pastor of the church, said a fallen tree branch did minor damage to the roof, but they were able to easily make the repairs.

“Insurance covered the damage,” Rev. Hock-ing said. No other repairs were needed, and he said he was unaware of any parishioners who had sustained damage to their property from the storms. – Christian Vischi


The Vestal Center United Methodist Church (Binghamton District) had to cancel services the first Sunday after the 2011 flood-ing – not because of water in the sanctuary but because they had no place to park.

At least half of the parking lot was de-stroyed according to Joyce Ellis, church secre-tary and trustee.

The damage was caused by the Sugar Creek eating away at the ground and depositing stuff from upstream in the parking lot. The Sugar Creek feeds into the Choconut Creek, which feeds into the Susquehanna River.

There was some water in the sanctuary,

but it was “taken care of in the first couple of days with the normal kind of cleanup,” accord-ing to Ellis.

The parsonage had 5 feet of water, and the small, partial basement underneath the educa-tion building had 8 feet of water, which was easily removed with sump pumps.

The church only lost items that had been stored in the basement. The hot water heater was relocated and the boiler was repaired and might be relocated.

“Everything works, but we feel that we need to relocate it so it won’t be in jeopardy,” Ellis said. – Lisa Jo Bezner

Update: Scotia UMC

The Rev. Patrick L. Holder provided this up-date:

Praise the Lord. The church (Mountain View District) had nearly 4 feet of water that sat in it for a period of time. The bottom half of all the walls had to be removed and re-placed. All the carpets were ruined.

To this point, all plasterboard has been replaced, wiring has been completed and junc-tions raised in certain places. The narthex and all the rooms on the left of the entrance are in the process of being completed.

The main sanctuary and the Sunday school classrooms on the right side of the entrance have only had the plasterboard completed. However, there are no doors yet throughout the interior of the building.

New windows have been installed through-out the building. However, in mid-August,

there was a leak in the heater system that flooded the pastor’s office and secretary’s office destroying the wood floor that had just been installed. The church has decided to have the whole heating system pressure checked before any more work is done.

Most of the work has been done, to this point, by volunteers from the church with a couple short-term hires.

The church has finally decided to consider contracting the remaining work so we can of-ficially open our doors for ministry. Currently we are conducting worship at the Municipal Building on Sundays only.

The left side of the church has one large room that is completed, and we are planning to start worship service in that room the first Sunday in September.

When the building becomes completed we intend to have a rededication service.

It’s a Thursday night at Central Endicott United Methodist Church (Binghamton District) and fellowship hall is filled with the usual crowd of people coming to Shepherd’s Supper.

People sit around chatting while volunteers prepare the shepherd’s pie, which is the standard fare for the third Thurs-day of the month.

The feeding ministry has been a staple for Central Endicott since the 1990s, but in the first few months after Tropical Storm Lee, the program relocated to First Endicott United Methodist Church where the facilities required a change to simpler fare: soup and grilled cheese.

“We thank them for their hospitality for those few months,” said Knud Hansen, chair of Central Endicott’s administrative council.

It was also a Thursday night when the ministry of Central Endicott went through a few changes.

Around 9 p.m. on Sept. 8, 2011, custodian Andy Tewksbury was checking the locks when he heard a gurgling sound com-ing from the bathrooms. The city of Endicott had shut off the pumps and the sewage was backing up through the toilets, which was when they realized the church is one of the lowest points on the sewage system.

“It was just like Mt. Vesuvius,” said Tom Hall, a trustee who became the point man of the clean-up and recovery. Hall tried to stop the sewage by stuffing some already wet clothing from the clothing center into the toilets. It seemed like it was going to work and then, “POOF!” the clothing blew out of the toilet.

So they called in the pumps.“We had six or eight pumps working and we weren’t making

a dent,” said Hansen, “As fast as we were getting it out it was coming in.”

That was until someone found a heavy-duty gasoline pump, nicknamed the John Wesley pump, which got the volunteers ahead of the game as they had hoses going out of every door. Volunteers split into two-hour shifts overnight to make sure the pumps kept working. Then at 2 p.m. Saturday, Endicott turned the city pumps back on; they were able to get every-thing dry by Monday.

But Shepherd’s Supper would need to relocate; the mix of groundwater and sewage destroyed the carpeting in the fel-lowship hall and it stunk for the first month. Central Endicott spread the word about the move through the other feeding ministries in Endicott. A van provided transportation to the new location.

As the recovery process began, the church had another Thursday in mind: Thanksgiving. On that day, Shepherd’s Sup-per takes place in the afternoon as a meal for the congregation and the community.

“There’s a lot of folks that are from other areas that basi-cally have Thanksgiving with the church family and then travel to wherever they travel to,” Hansen said.

Shepherd’s Supper is supported through congregational fun-draising and an endowment. Harvest Home, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, is one of the biggest fundraising times.

The flooring in fellowship hall had been replaced, and the people showed up to scrub all of the dishes and organize the kitchen to get it ready for the inspection so they could host Shepherd’s Supper on Thanksgiving. It was the first meal back at Central Endicott.

Clothing pours inDuring the July 19 Shepherd’s Supper, a couple kept a care-

ful eye on the cart full of clothing selected from the clothing bank.

“What was amazing is, immediately … while we were pumping 4 inches or 5 inches of water out this room, people are donating clothes because they know that we’re a clothing center,” Hansen said.

The church responded by making the clothing available at the rear of the sanctuary for a couple of months. Volunteers responded to the emotional needs of young recipients by pulling out clothing in needed sizes if people called ahead and wanted to meet at special times.

“We had to put signs up to tell people we can’t take any more. There were so many clothes coming in for people … that’s the heart of people in this area,” Hansen said.

– Lisa Jo Bezner, is a licensed local pastor who is pursing a mas-ter’s in sacred theology at Boston University School of Theology.

Update: Wellsburg UMC

Update: Vestal Center UMC

“We’re 99 percent done,” said the Rev. Alan Bill, pastor of Barton United Methodist Church (Binghamton Dis-trict).

The church had 51 inches (just over 4 feet) of water in the basement and everything down to the stone wall had to be torn down. The church was able to rebuild it better than it was before thanks to the $50,000 in flood insurance money available through the Upper New York Annual Conference.

“Glorious day when I opened up the envelope with a $50,000 check,” Rev. Bill said.

In the first month after the flooding, church volunteers worked to remove flood debris. One of the older men had an aneurysm a day after removing debris and after the death of another congrega-tion member, Rev. Bill said he “told the rest of the church, we’re going to hire the rest of this done. There’s no sense killing ourselves.”

They were able to do all of the repairs be-cause a local crew volunteered to remove the rest of the debris and then was hired to do the work that included enlarging the kitchen and creating a handicapped accessible bath-room.

Barton UMC marked the flood level with a small plaque on one of the white posts taken

from the original early 1800s church that was up the hill from the current location.

Rev. Bill admits the church was devastated at first, then grateful for the outpouring of volunteers.

One member reflected on the change, say-ing: “We just couldn’t throw anything away, and God made it so we threw everything away.” – Lisa Jo Bezner

Update: Barton UMC

The Rev. Alan Bill, pastor at Barton UMC, stands near a pillar from the original church where a plaque marks the 51 inches of water that filled the basement. Photo by Lisa Jo Bezner.

Update: Central Endicott UMC

Members at Central Endicott UMC sort clothes donated after the flooding. Photo courtesy of Central Endicott UMC.

For the Scotia UMC (Albany District), the news is good, bad and ugly.

The good news is the six stained-glass win-dows that were affected by Hurricane Irene probably can be repaired in-house, said the Rev. Megan Stowe, pastor.

The bad news is repairs to the slate roof on the Gothic cathedral-style church will cost approximately $100,000.

The ugly is the denial by the insurance company for payment because the damage was caused by wind-driven rain, Rev. Stowe said.

Rev. Stowe said the church will likely begin a capital improvement campaign this fall, but the goal will be higher than $100,000 as there is other damage, including falling plaster.

A church service was being held during Hurricane Irene and “water was pouring in,”

Rev. Stowe said; in terms of repairs, the roof is the priority.

“We need to take care of the roof and re-pointing,” she said. “We need to take care of the outside part before we can do the inside part.”

The original sanctuary dates to 1902.; there was an addition in the 1920s, but the church is not on the National Register of Historic Places. That gives them leeway in how and when to do the repairs; to date no repairs have begun.

“We were waiting for three or four months to get bids back on the roofs and repairs,” Rev. Stowe said.

Even so, she said, it could have been worse; nearby Rotterdam Junction was devastated by flooding. – Christian Vischi


Flood victims get a hand Passing Through the WatersBy Christian VischiAdvocate writer“Adjusting expectations.”That was the crux of the

Passing Through the Waters retreats that were held this spring, said the Rev. Dr. Bar-bara Green.

The retreats were in-tended to be an opportunity for clergy and laity to share their experiences, emotions

and the mir-acles that came out of Hur-ricane Irene and Tropi-cal

Storm Lee,

which caused flooding in many areas that set record crest levels.

And it helped some under-stand that their expectations for church had to be adjusted, said Rev. Green, a retired pastor who was one of the retreat facilitators.

“If you don’t take time to talk about the emotions, then it affects who you are to such a degree that you end up at odds … with the people you really want to be best friends with,” she said.

Two one-day retreats for clergy were held at the Cobleskill United Methodist Church (Oneonta District) and Sky Lake Camp & Retreat Center in Windsor (Bingham-ton District), and two ses-sions for laity at the Owego and Tioga Center UMCs (Binghamton District).

Rev. Green has personal experience dealing with the aftermath of a flood; she was the pastor at the Sidney UMC (Oneonta District) in June 2006 when a week of record rainfall brought what many considered “the 100-year flood.”

The first retreat The first retreat was held

on Feb. 10 at the Sky Lake

Camp & Retreat Center.The eight clergy in atten-

dance participated in open-ing worship and listened to quotes from Lamentations. Shells from Grand Isle, La., that had been through Hur-ricane Katrina in 2005, were also used as part of the expe-rience.

“We also used a baptismal bowl with muddy water in it. That was sort of our focal point,” Rev. Green said.

The same outline was fol-lowed at the three other re-treats, which had a combined attendance of 23.

“We passed the shells as part of our healing circles, and whoever had that shell had the floor and everyone listened to that person,” said facilitator Lisa Jo Bezner, a licensed local pastor.

Both attendees and facilita-tors were given the oppor-tunity to hold the shell and share on four basic questions:

• What was your personal experience?

• What was the worst thing you remember?

• What gave you hope? • What was something you

realized you had to let go of?“Pastoral care really is all

about presence and listening,” said the Rev. David Masland, superintendent of the Bing-hamton District.

His district was one of the hardest hit; for example, 1,200 of Owego’s approxi-mately 1,400 homes were affected by flooding, according to news reports.

“Clergy have pushed for this, and offered follow up for laity,” Rev. Masland said. “(These retreats) have given support to not only clergy, but lay persons that have

wanted to have a group come.”The experts

In addition to Rev. Green and Bezner, who is pursuing a master’s degree in sacred the-ology with a concentration on pastoral psychology, trauma theology and spirituality and provided the research for the retreats, facilitators included:

• Mary Alice Westerlund, a board-certified chaplain and director of Lourdes Hospital’s Spiritual Care Department in Binghamton

• Sister Ann Perrin, a licensed marriage and family therapist at the University of Scranton and a Red Cross Mental Health Disaster Team volunteer

• Rev. George Brennan, ex-ecutive director of the Capital Area Council of Churches and pastor of Parish of Our Lady of Hope Roman Catholic Church in Copake Falls.

Also on hand, were social workers from Project RE-NEW of the Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier. Project RENEW is a crisis counseling and training program created to provide services for the victims of Tropical Storm Lee. Current-ly, Project RENEW is working with several churches in the Binghamton District.

Getting startedThe development process

for the retreats started with an Oct. 31, 2011 email from Clinton UMC pastor the Rev. Jeff Hale to a newly created Committee of Passing Through the Waters; serving on the committee were:

Mike Huber, associate di-rector for Camp and Retreat Ministries of the Upper New York Annual Conference;

Acting Albany District Su-perintendent the Rev. Janice Palm, retired; Rev. Dr. Ray Stees; retired; Rev. Diane Prentice, pastor of Kirkwood First UMC and chaplain at the Hilltop Campus of United Methodist Homes; Bezner, most recently pastor of the Otego UMC but currently pursuing her master’s degree; Judy Bezon, associate direc-tor of Children’s Disaster Services for the Church of the Brethren of Elgin, Ill.; and Rev. Green, retired, who provides congregational care at the Endwell UMC.

Bezner said the retreats were a work in progress, tweaked each time based on feedback they received.

“We had some people who were on the team who had prior experience,” she said. “(But creating it mostly from scratch) was a matter of ... I didn’t find anything like this is plan.”

“We started with clergy for a couple of reasons,” said Rev. Green. “They hear everybody else and they might be the most in need. ... Sec-ond, if they appreciated what happened they would spread positive word by mouth and they could take it to the churches.”

One such pastor is the Rev. Donna Martin, who serves the Tioga Center and Smithboro United Methodist churches (Binghamton Dis-trict). Tioga Center suffered significant damage. (See story on page 11).

“I can’t say enough good things about the Passing Through the Waters program,” said Rev. Martin. “Everyone should attend; it should be mandatory.”

The timing was perfect, she said, of the program that

took place in February. “We had almost six

months to stew in the stuff, then got to spew the stuff,” she said.

“I left that day able to go forward and wanting to share that same feeling with every-one I knew who had been impacted,” Rev. Martin said.

The key to the success of the retreats can be summed up in one word, according to Bezner and Rev. Green: listening.

“I think every person really felt the value of being able to talk,” Rev. Green said. “And being heard,” Bezner added.

“That is what we were try-ing to provide, emotion and spiritual care,” Rev. Green said. “Most of the participants there were impressed with the goodness of what came out of taking turns talking. No one was going to tell you that you were wrong or right.”

Plans for the futureAlthough there are no spe-

cific dates for future retreats, facilitators said if there is a need is raised, they will look into arranging another re-treat. It is all about timing.

“The timing was perfect for (the retreat at) Tioga Cen-ter,” Bezner said. “They had been doing, doing, doing.”

Rev. Green described a person at that retreat who talked about the loss of family records, “and with that emo-tion; I think for a lot of them, they had been so busy doing, they hadn’t had time to realize they had emotional involve-ment.

“You become aware, once again, of the pain that is in the world. I think that is huge for a pastor, any person really, how much pain is out there.”

Green

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were

glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.”

– Psalm 107:28-30 (NIV)

On Sept. 10, 2011, Harpursville United Methodist Church member Michelle Noyes attended an ecumeni-cal meeting at which it was decided Ninevah Presbyte-rian Church would handle food, since it was only three buildings from the edge of the floodwaters.

The question was, what would Harpursville (Bing-hamton District) do to help its community?

“There’s a lot of older folks here, so there’s no way we could do the cleanup. So clothes was the only thing left,” said Noyes.

The fellowship hall was transformed into a clothing center that served at least 70 families who came to the shelter.

“We were not just in Harpursville but we delivered clothing to Endicott one day, as well, so we worked within the (Binghamton) district,” said the Rev. Sue Shields, pastor of Ouaquaga and Harpursville UMCs.

“People always have clothes even if they don’t have money to help out,” Noyes said about the donations that poured in to supplement the clothing pulled from the St. Pauly (a company that collects clothing and sells it to nonprofits) shed behind the fire department and from a small clothing center in town.

The clothing center was staffed from 8:30 a.m. to 7

p.m. for three weeks by Noyes and Faith Mone, along with other volunteers from all the community’s church-es.

One night they stayed open until 9 p.m. for a family with seven children who came after eating dinner at Ni-nevah Presbyterian. Two of the daughters were beaming over their new clothes.

“That’s what made you feel good. When you put a smile on the face of a little one,” said Noyes.

Clothing wasn’t the only contribution Harpursville UMC made, though, Rev. Shields was at seminary in Pennsylvania at the time of the flood so she purchased food, water, plates, napkins and other items that had sold out in the Harpursville-Ninevah area.

“In a small town, you pull together,” Shields said. “People will give their last dollar not knowing when their next check is coming to help their neighbors who may be worse off.”

– Lisa Jo Bezner

Update: Harpursville UMC

These two young girls seem happy with the clothing they picked up at Harpursville UMC. The church de-cided providing clothing was the way they could help the community after the flooding. Photo by Michelle Noyes


By Christian VischiAdvocate writerIn 1972, Hurricane

Agnes became the third storm since 1900 to cause over $1 billion in dam-age. In the 40 years since, there have been numerous storms that have flooded New York. But nothing in recorded meteorological history compares to the 2011 back-to-back soak-ing of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

According to a report by the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Irene’s total U.S. damage estimate is $15.8 billion, and Tropical Storm Lee caused an addi-tional $2 billion in damage.

For a perspective on the magnitude of the damage in New York, the U.S. De-partment of Transportation earmarked $89.75 million for repairing roads and bridges damaged by Irene and Lee.

What caused the dam-age was rainfall that swelled rivers and creeks well beyond their flood stage.

The Schoharie Creek at Burtonsville (20 miles west of Schenectady) hits flood stage at 6 feet. It peaked during Lee at 15.31 feet, over 2.5 times higher than flood stage and more than 2 feet higher than its previ-ous record.

The Mettawee River at Middle Granville (approxi-mately 25 miles east of Lake George, on the Ver-mont-New York border) was similarly recorded well above flood stage: peaking at 15.04 feet on a river that floods at 7 feet.

These peaks, among over 50 other records es-tablished across the state, resulted in catastrophic flooding and forced many to evacuate to higher ground. Areas in New York seeing 500-year and 100-year record peak stages included the Hudson River basin, the Delaware River basin, the Susquehanna River basin and the St. Lawrence River basin.

The Susquehanna River

at 464 miles long is the longest river on the East Coast; it starts at Otsego Lake in Cooperstown and ends in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The Susquehanna River basin is one of the most flood-prone areas in the entire country. According to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, “More than 80 percent of the basin’s 1,400-plus municipalities in-clude areas that are flood-prone.”

In Broome County alone, over 20,000 people were evacuated while more than 100,000 people were impacted by the flood waters.

The efforts of manyBut all of this seems to

have brought out the best in people, according to figures released by Upper New York Annual Confer-ence Recovery Director Greg Forrester.

The Conference’s re-covery efforts have focused on two areas: Schoharie County (Middleburgh United Methodist Church

acting as a central op-erations hub) and Broome/Tioga Counties (Endicott Volunteer Center).

Some 22 United Meth-odist properties were dam-aged by the storms along with an estimated 8,500 homes in Schoharie County and 15,000 in Broome and Tioga counties.

The United Method-ist response since Janu-ary 2012 has included: “partner(ing) with long-term recovery groups in both areas,” Forrester noted, including Schoharie Area Long Term (SALT), Broome County Commu-nity Organizations Active in Disaster (BCCOAD) and Tioga Area Resource Partners (TARP).

SALT is a coordinat-ing council that provides interfaith and inter-agency resources, advocacy, heal-ing, support and recovery assistance to those af-fected by disasters. BC-COAD works with Faith Partners in Recovery to help families who don’t have adequate resources to

get back into their homes and be restored physically and spiritually; TARP is a county-wide human servic-es coalition that operates with a similar goal.

Forrester noted that volunteer hours can be calculated in the tens of thousands.

In the Middleburgh area, 19 volunteer teams have been hosted – not count-ing local daily volunteers – totaling 14,960 hours of recovery labor by 374 volunteers.

In Endicott, 610 volun-teers on 27 teams have provided 24,400 hours.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief has helped provide resources to these teams through an initial pair of $10,000 grants – one for each storm – followed by a $100,000 rebuilding grant for staffing and supplies.

Donations to local churches earmarked for Lee and Irene disaster re-covery totaled $251,567.89 as of June 30, reported Sherri Mackey, treasurer/

director of Administrative Services for the Confer-ence.

Need continues What has this generos-

ity meant? In Middleburgh, for example, through June 29 receipts have totaled $32,543.13. These ex-penditures have included everything from screws, staples and smoke alarms to drywall, trash bags and painting supplies. Giving to Middleburgh through June 29 was $45,220.33.

BCCOAD is helping families in the Broome County area by distributing $575,000 of locally collect-ed relief funds – originally donated to the United Way of Broome County – and an additional $300,000 from a Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation grant. These funds are focused toward supporting Broome County households with unmet needs in the long-term recovery from the flooding.

Even with this outpour-ing of support, Forrester says there is always a need. “(We still have a strong) need for volun-teers through the summer of 2013,” Forrester said. Endicott and Middleburgh can both use Volunteers in Mission teams from the Conference as the time-table for recovery is years, not months.

And it could happen again. Many in the areas hardest hit recall the flood-ing of 2006, if not Hurri-cane Agnes – both of which were called “100-year floods.”

But according to the Karen Dinicola of the U.S. Geological Survey, 100-year flood is a misnomer.

“The truth is that an uncommonly big flood can happen any year,” she said. “The term ‘100-year flood’ is really a statistical des-ignation, and there is a 1-in-100 chance that a flood this size will happen during any year. Perhaps a better term would be the ‘1-in-100 chance flood.’”

New crest-level records set around New York

The floodwaters from the Susquehanna River crossed Route 17, (seen in the background). Highway 434, which runs between Owego and Binghamton, was completely submerged between the barbecue restaurant (the building with the red roof) and the heavy equip-ment in the foreground. Photo courtesy of First United Methodist Church in Apalachin.

Update: Lounsberry UMCThe Rev. Jon Austin didn’t know

what to expect when he heard the weather reports, but luckily mem-bers of Lounsberry United Method-ist Church in Nichols (Binghamton District) did and they were there until around 10 p.m. on Wednesday night, Sept. 7, 2011, transferring the food and furniture out of Ellie’s Pantry.

Some of the items were moved up-stairs and some into a Best Buy trac-tor trailer that was moved to higher ground until it could be returned to the church parking lot, where it be-came the food pantry until the regular pantry was repaired.

Sunday school rooms that were moved upstairs in the wake of the flooding were permanently relocated when the church decided not to

rebuild walls that had to be torn out; that tripled the size of Ellie’s Pantry.

The pantry usually serves more than 70 families twice a week and served them from its temporary location. It continued to serve them even when it had to move into a new trailer, because Best Buy needed the road-worthy trailer back.

It took three days for the water to go down enough that George Bowen could take pictures of the church from the road, and another four days before members could get to the church. It was another week before electricity was connected.

Meanwhile, they worked with portable power stations from Roch-ester Gas and Electric, which pow-ered pumps around the church for

two days after the DEC had pumped water for two days. The water had to be pumped past the house next door to keep it from getting back into the church.

The water didn’t get in the sanctu-ary but ruined everything in the first floor including the brand new kitchen and tiled floor. Three dumpsters of muck were removed from the walls.

Like the agreement with Best Buy, much of the repair at Lounsberry was made possible because of relationships with people and churches.

For example, the person who installed the floors donated his labor while his church, Lakeview Chapel in Owego, donated the cost of wax and cleaning solutions.

The DEC vacuum truck arrived

through a connection via Barton United Methodist Church (Bingham-ton District). And a sister-church rela-tionship was established with Penfield United Methodist Church (Genesee Valley District), which donated $500, because they wanted to give their money to a church like theirs.

They also got help from a 9-year-old girl, who saved her allowance to help the church. The $117 saved was matched by her father and grandpar-ents.

“It just goes to show every little bit helps,” said church member Ray Berry.

– Lisa Jo Bezner, is a licensed local pastor who is pursing a master’s in sa-cred theology at Boston University School of Theology.


Mission Possible! By Katie Aiosa

This year, we are having a mission trip as one of our gatherings. We’ve decided to called it Mission Possible! The dates to this gathering will be Nov. 9 and 10. The cost is $35. We will have worship, workshops and late-night op-tions. Some of the late-night options we will be having are Wacky Olympics, Prayer Cha-pel, and 4 Square and games.

The theme this year is: Hello, my name is ... I am a child of God.

On Saturday morning we will have a closing worship, then at 9 a.m. go out and serve by doing mission work. The gathering will be held in a church in Middleburgh, so bring sleeping bags and a pillow.

Last year, the gathering went out and worked Satur-day after our closing wor-ship. Several weeks after the flood, there was still so much to clean up! We worked at several different sites in and around the Schoharie County, getting things – from teddy bears to pieces of front porches – out of people's

yards. Not only did this mission

trip strengthen our faith but it showed us what it means to “be God’s love to our neigh-bors and friends.”

That's why we at CCYM are looking forward to serv-ing God and our neighbors in this way again, and we’re inviting youth groups across the state to join us.

This event opened my eyes to see how many people are affected by one horrible di-saster, I can't wait to see what we can do this year! So come join us in Mission Possible!

Fall Gathering By Chelsea Whittemore

Hello my name is… I am a child of God.

This year at the Fall Gather-ing, you will be discovering who you are in God’s family.

Youth groups are invited to meet other youth and engage in lots of awesome events.

There will be worship times that gather everyone together to sing and praise God, and hear reflections on our theme. There will be workshops on prayer, love, and deep matters in your

religious life. This year’s Fall Gathering

will include late-night options such as Wacky Olympics, 4 Square and many other activi-ties.

Youth will have fun as well as worship and learn about ourselves and what it means to be children of God.

Youth 12 and older and their adult advisors can at-tend for $85 (four or five to a room). The Fall Gathering will be held at the Convention Center in Rochester; Nov. 16-17.

Youth, join CCYM for fall events


A Service of Installation for the Upper New York Area’s new resident bishop, Bishop Mark J. Webb, will take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30, at Hendricks Chapel on the Syra-cuse University campus. There will be a reception on the quad following the worship service.

Members of the Conference will also have a chance to meet Bishop Webb when he tours all 12 districts next month (see schedule at right).

“Over the next few months, I look forward to getting to know you, to getting to know your heart for God and your commitment to be the Church,” Bishop Webb said in his first message to the Confer-ence. “I look forward to sharing my heart with you and learning together this new relationship that we have begun.”

Of his planned district tour, Bishop Webb said, “I hope I will be able to greet as many of you as possible during those days.”

The Upper New York An-nual Conference is Bishop Webb’s first assignment; it began officially on Sept. 1.

Bishop Webb was elected to the episcopacy on July 19 at the 2012 Northeastern Jurisdiction-al Conference in Charleston, WVa.

The bishop and his wife, Jodi, have two teenaged sons Tyler and Ben.

Speaking of his initial visit to the Conference, the bishop talked about what he has learned about Upper New York: “We have quickly come to understand the depth of spirituality and the passion to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be God’s love with all

people in all places. I’m excited to begin walking alongside of you as we continue to discover all that God has for us,” the bishop said (A video of his full welcome address appears at www.unyumc.org.).

Bishop Webb, 48, a native of Williamsport, Pa., most recent-ly served in the Susquehanna Annual Conference as York District superintendent. Before being named superintendent in 2007, he served as pastor at the Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Mechanicsburg, Pa. He earlier served St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Wormleys-burg, Pa. The bishop holds an M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s from Shippensburg University.

“New days and new things are filled with anxiety, but also with hope ...,” Bishop Webb said, adding that he believes “God will give us everything we need to live fully and effectively the call that has been placed upon our life – individually and corporately. With God, I know all will be well.”

The Rev. Jeff McDowell, pastor at the Centenary United Methodist Church in Bath (Mountain View Dis-trict), is offering free hymnals. The following are available:

• 1940 edition: Hymns for Junior Worship. These have most of the “old hymns” of early 20th-century Americana

(16 copies).• 1938 edition: The Abing-

don Song Book (24 copies).• 1966 edition: The Method-

ist Hymnal (12 copies).Contact Rev. McDowell

via email at [email protected] or call the church at (607) 776-3434.

RemembrancesAnne Bowersox McLean, 84, died July

21, 2012. She was the wife of retired elder Rev. Norman McLean. Condolences may be shared at waidfuneralhome.net.

The Rev. Dr. Ruby Elinor Hare died July 25, 2012. Rev. Hare was the first woman ordained in the former Western New York Annual Conference. She served the New York Annual Conference from the early 1980s until her retirement in 1999. In retirement, she served the Lakewood UMC (Cornerstone District) in several capacities.

The Rev. David Lefurgey, retired,

who died on July 25, 2012. He served the Hudson Falls United Methodist Church (Ad-irondack District) among others. Condo-lences may be sent to Rev. Lefurgey’s wife, Linda, at: 19116 N. Lariat Road, Maricopa, Ariz. 85138.

The Rev. Dawn P. Robbins, 55, died July 29, 2012. Rev. Robbins served the Hud-son Falls United Methodist Church, where she had been pastor since 2010. A native of Boston, Rev. Robbins was commissioned as a probationary elder in 1983 and was ordained as a full elder in 1987. Apart from

the Hudson Falls UMC, she has also served Burke-Haven Parish, Greenfield Center, Porter Corners & South Corinth, Argyle & Fortsville, Warrensburg and Bolton Landing churches.

George Fandt died Aug. 4, 2012. He served as a local pastor in the early 1960s at the Seneca Castle, Kennedy and Ellington United Methodist churches in New York. He also served churches in Ohio and South Dakota. He graduated from Houghton Col-lege and United Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Everett Henry Enstine died on Aug.

10, 2012. He was the father of the Rev. Edward Enstine, pastor of the Danby Feder-ated Church in Ithaca. Condolences may be sent to Rev. Enstine at 363 West King Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 or via email to [email protected].

The Rev. Glenn V. Woike, 67, died Aug. 18, 2012. He took honorable loca-tion to become a librarian in 1978; prior to that he served at the Seneca Castle, Sweet Home, and Clarence United Methodist churches.

Conference calendar

Oct. 5-28Bishop Mark J. Webb will be

making visits to all 12 districts(see above)

Oct. 8-10Bishop’s Retreat

Oct. 27Older Adult Ministries Workshop, Rush UMC

Nov. 9-10 CCYM Fall Mission Possible

Middleburgh

Nov. 16-17 CCYM Fall Gathering

Rochester

Nov. 22-23Conference offices closed

for Thanksgiving

For more details and the most up-to-date information, visit our website www.unyumc.org.

Bishop’s installation Sept. 30

Bishop Mark J. Webb

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The women and men who enroll in the Master of Divinity program at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School come from diverse faith traditions and communities. However, they share the belief that Christ’s greatest calling is to engage the real world as it is in order to transform it.

Engage reality.

Where do you see reality?

Call 1-888-937-3732 Visit www.crcds.edu Follow @crcdsfacebook.com/crcds

Advocate-Oct.2011.indd 1 10/3/11 9:05 PM

The Rev. Dr. John Edward Nuessle, associate gen-eral secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), will lead two in-teractive mission workshops sponsored by the Conference Global Ministries Team.

Each of the two work-shops will include a mis-sion fair featuring displays and persons to speak with about a number

of mission programs and proj-ects – including some Confer-ence Advance Specials.

The workshops will be:• 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct.

6, at the Penn Yan UMC, 168 Main St., Penn Yan

• 3-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7, at Pine Grove UMC, 1580 Central Ave., Albany; includes a pizza supper for $5.

Rev. Nuessle, who has been with GBGM for 20 years, is the author of Faithful Witnesses: United Methodist

Theology of Mission, a church-wide study on missiology.

He is an elder in the Upper New York Annual Confer-ence, where he’s served as a district superintendent and in a number of pastoral appoint-ments.

As keynote speaker at the Extension Ministry Luncheon during this year’s Annual Con-ference, Rev. Nuessle spoke about mission work using the session’s theme Called to Till: Planting God’s Future in Hearts and Neighbors:

“(Tilling the soil) is an appropriate image for our ministry in the world,” he said. “Almost daily, I tell my colleagues, ‘mission is messy. Very messy.’ … We must con-tinue to till the soil and sow the seed – knowing we have no earthly idea what will hap-pen or how it happens. ... Just be sure to sow the seed.”

Registration is not re-quired. For more information, about the Penn Yan event, contact Rev. Jeff Childs at [email protected] and for the Albany event, contact Alice Trost at [email protected].

In brief ...Nuessle to lead mission workshops

Pastor offering free hymnals

Here is the tentative schedule for Bishop Webb’s district tour. Venues will be announced later.

Oct. 55:30-7:30 p.m. Albany District

Oct. 610 a.m. - noon

Adirondack District3-5 p.m.

Adirondack District

Oct. 72:30-4:30 p.m.

Oneonta District6-8 p.m.

Binghamton District

Oct. 126-8 p.m.

Mohawk District

Oct. 142-4 p.m.

Northern Flow District6-8 p.m.

Northern Flow District

Oct. 156-8 p.m.

Crossroads District

Oct. 236-8 p.m.

Finger Lakes District

Oct. 266-8 p.m.

Genesee Valley District

Oct. 2710 a.m. - noon

Mountain View District3-5 p.m.

Cornerstone District

Oct. 283-5 p.m.

Niagara Frontier District

Bishop’s tour

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