Rebuilding plan issued for Louisiana churches

United Methodist News Service
BATON ROUGE, La.—Louisiana Bishop William W. Hutchinson has presented a mission-based plan for rebuilding New Orleans’ United Methodist churches affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The plan was initially presented during a Feb. 23 meeting of New Orleans District pastors at First UMC, Baton Rouge. The proposal was then shared March 3 with more than 350 laypeople at Munholland UMC, New Orleans.
The plan—which initially doesn’t call for any church closings—was drafted by Hutchinson, Louisiana Conference district superintendents and members of a “blue-ribbon” advisory committee. The plan proposes seven groups of Mission Zone Cooperative Parishes.
“The United Methodist Church will continue to make disciples for Christ, even in the most affected areas of the city,” Hutchinson said. “New Orleans is, in many ways, starting from scratch. This approach will treat the devastated areas as a mission field, building on bold, creative approaches to deliver the gospel.”
Clergy members who want to be part of rebuilding News Orleans churches need certain pastoral characteristics, Hutchinson said.
“We need team players who have a passion for reaching people for Christ,” he said. “Pastors must be able to work and live in the midst of change and hardship. We need leaders who are more interested in people than in buildings.”
“Out of the box” thinking would be critical for those serving in the mission zones, Hutchinson said.
“Pastors will need to be self-starters, remain flexible and possess tremendous energy,” he added.
A key requirement set forth by Hutchinson is that clergy families must live within the Mission Zone.
“There will be no commuters,” he stressed. “We must demonstrate by our presence that United Methodists believe in the city and its future.”
Thirty-eight New Orleans area churches have been identified for the seven Mission Zones. Each zone is to be directed by a clergy team, headed by a designated team leader. The team is to develop creative ways to bring ministry to the areas served by churches in the group.
“Together, with the help of the district superintendent and the cabinet, the team will eventually make recommendations on the direction churches should go,” Hutchinson said. “Under this plan, every church has the opportunity to determine its future. For now, we are not going to close any churches.”
The financial side of the plan is in development.
The Mission Zone plan targets congregations in Plaquemine, St. Bernard, Orleans and Jefferson parishes.
Appointments to clergy positions under this plan are to be made in June and take effect immediately following the Louisiana Annual Conference session.
Station churches have been assigned to each Mission Zone. They have a stable ministry and are geographically connected to seriously affected areas.
Aurora UMC and St. Matthew’s UMC, two of the station churches, also serve as hosts for Storm Relief/Recovery Stations funded by the United Methodist Committee on Relief and managed by the Louisiana Conference.
In addition to Aurora and St. Matthew’s, station churches include El Mesias, Gretna, Korean, Munhol-land and Rayne UMC.
Churches in their respective Mission Zones are:
n Group 1: First, New Orleans; Grace; St. Mark’s; LaHarpe; St. Phil-lip’s; Thompson; Shaw Temple; John Wesley.
n Group 2: Carrollton, Haven Trinity, Phillip’s Memorial, Parker, Williams, Jefferson and the Wesley Foundation at Tulane University.
n Group 3: Mount Zion, Peck, Wesley, Felicity, People’s, First Street, Napoleon Avenue.
n Group 4: First, Kenner; Thomas, Kenner; First, Metairie; Ross; St. Paul’s, Harahan.
n Group 5: Asbury, Algiers; St. Matthew, Algiers; First, Algiers; Boynton.
n Group 6, Hartzel; Arabi; Covenant, Chalmette; Cornerstone.
n Group 7, Lake Vista, St. Luke’s, Brooks, Trinity of Gentilly.
Churches with a specialized focus include Bethany UMC, New Orleans, and Sweet Lake, Cameron and Grand Chenier UMCs, which were destroyed in September by Hurricane Rita.
“It is felt that Bethany UMC, which was moving to a new location prior to the hurricane, has a solid core group that is ready to grow the church’s ministry to a special level,” Hutchinson said.
Also under special consideration are El Mesias and Korean UMCs, he said. Those congregations serve the Latino and Korean ministries of the Louisiana Conference.
Last fall the Council of Bishops launched the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal to restore damaged church facilities, pay clergy salaries and cover other needs related to rebuilding or building new ministries in the hurricane-affected areas. Donations can be designated for “Bishops’ Appeal No. 818-001" and placed into local church offerings.