“We Need Each Other”: How a Black and White Church join forces after Hurricane Katrina | New Orleans

Before the flood Hurricane Katrina Destroy the city New Orleans 20 years ago, Franklin Street Baptist Church flourished.

“We have three morning services. We have a gym, overflow room. Next door is the family center. There is a sports room and a library,” said Franklin Street pastor Fred Lutt Little. “We just bought a 90 acre property. We are the topic of the town.”

Then, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina Along the Gulf Coast landing, the embankment broke in New Orleans. More than 80% of cities flood homes, businesses and historical and cultural institutions. More than 1,800 people died as more than 1 million people were displaced along the Gulf Coast, and losses soared by $120 billion.

As a country Reflected on the 20th anniversary Hurricane Katrina and its damage in Crescent City also have memories of resilience and reconstruction, hope and recovery. For some, these appear in the form of religious residences. After the hurricane, the two churches gathered together – mainly Black Franklin Avenue Baptist Church and First Baptist Church New Orleans, a mostly white church – not only provided a space for worship but also provided a sense of community for the traumatized residents in an attempt to get a normal human feeling after the deadly flood.

Lutt said the city had no electricity in the days and weeks after Hurricane Katrina, and the National Guard had to allow emergency workers on the street. Media images from Hurricane Katrina nearly a week after landing September 4, 2005 New Orleansshowing residents are still rescued from rooftops and flooded cars.

New York City starts allowing people to inspect their properties for two months, which will be a good two months. Those returning must go through the checkpoint with the police.

Luter, who had evacuated to Birmingham, returned to New Orleans to assess the losses to Franklin Avenue.

“We had 9 feet of water. Everything on the first floor was completely destroyed. The whole first floor was completely damaged.” “I cried. The smell was incredible. The bench rolled over, the organ, the instrument. As long as I was alive, it was something I would never forget.”

The front door of the church has a sign: “Pastor Lute. Pastor Young. Where are you? We miss you.”

“I wish I could keep that sign,” Lutt said.

Franklin Avenue has about 7,000 members, scattered. It is difficult for the pastor to contact the parishioners. The phone doesn’t work. The internet has fallen, and church websites have risen again for several months.

Lutt said he believes the days in Birmingham were seven months. He held a service on the first and third Sundays in Baton Rouge and drove to Houston on the second and fourth Sundays – two cities where many of his parishioners evacuated.

Lutt said once the church’s website was backed up, he began receiving messages from members of Franklin Street who lived on the city’s west coast, and that was not flooded. They also want church services.

He called David Crosby of First Baptist New Orleans and told him that Franklin Avenue was looking for a place to hold a service on Sunday morning. Pastor Crosby told Luter that First Baptist Church was “happy to have you.”

The First Baptist New Orleans, with a white, middle-class congregation, moved to a new multi-million dollar building in June 2004, more than a year before Hurricane Katrina. Nearly two weeks after the storm, a friend helped Crosby get in touch with a helicopter pilot who flew from Cosicana, Texas to New Orleans. They flew along Lake Ponchit and investigated the destruction. Crosby said the city is still full of water.

“It’s an indescribable disaster,” Crosby said. “If you’re not there, it’s like trying to describe something like a battlefield. It’s surreal. I was wondering at the time if the city would recover.”

National Guard members escorted Crosby into the first Baptist building with lights on the driver. About 30 people set up camps there.

“There are a lot of buildings that are not damaged,” Crosby said. “The second floor of the Education Building, the auditorium, is a mess. There is water in front. All the moor microphone wires and wires are filled with water, creating water from the ground water in the Music Suite and all of these pipes.

Crosby said that although First Baptist New Orleans lost less than Franklin Avenue, the building lost $3 million in structural losses, “Of course, we don’t have telephone services, internet services, electricity.” The church had to use a borrowed generator to “operate a hundred fans to suck water out of the air” and run the sound system.

The church has been set up as a distribution center for organizations such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and other disaster relief organizations that use First Baptist parking lots to provide goods and services to displaced New Orleans and volunteer groups. They are distributing a bottle of water, a box of food and a hot meal.

First Baptist Church provided church services by October, and Lutt called Electric.

“Fred called me and said, ‘Is there any way to meet at your church?’ I said, “I’m sure there’s a way, we’ll figure it out.” ” “The deacons and church leaders were excited to preside over Franklin Avenue. We really don’t have much thought about colors. This is something we can do, want to do. ”

They agreed that Franklin Avenue will be held at 7.30 a.m. before Sunday school classes in First Baptist New Orleans. What happened was continuous religious solidarity and solidarity. Members of First Baptist New Orleans participated in the services of Franklin Avenue at 7.30, and the parishioners attended First Baptist Sunday School Course at 9.30 am. The Ministry of Health of the two churches also held events. The churches gathered to go on vacation to Bible School, and when Franklin’s sanctuary was renovated, it provided office space for First Baptist Church in New Orleans.

“I never pushed it. No one said we shouldn’t do it. I don’t remember a soul like that,” Crosby said. “This partnership grew.”

In 2012, Crosby nominated Luter to become president of the Southern Baptist Congress. Lute was unanimously elected and became The first black man Leading the organization’s history for 167 years.

This historical partnership is remembered during the joint worship ceremony for Hurricane Katrina’s 20th anniversary. The service was led by Rev. Chip Luter, son of Luter, and current pastor Chad Gilbert, First Baptist New Orleans. The service was attended by city VIPs, including several City Council delegates, and a representative from the mayor’s office presented keys to Luter and Crosby in honor of the shared worship service following Hurricane Katrina.

“You brought us into the wreckage,” said Jack Hunter, executive director of the New Orleans Baptist Association, two churches that work together after Hurricane Katrina. “You bring us into a community of shared losses and hope.”

Rev Fred Luter’s wife, Elizabeth Luter, first lady of Franklin Street Baptist Church, said she no longer talks about what she lost in the storm, but what she found after Hurricane Katrina: “generousness, endurance and dedication.”

“One of the things we do together is that we crossed racial and economic barriers to show the love of Jesus,” Elizabeth Luter said of the Franklin Avenue and First Baptist partnership.

Franklin Avenue worshipped with First Baptist members for two and a half years. Franklin Avenue reopened its church building for worship on the first Sunday in April 2008. This is a group of only people.

“Hurricane Katrina did something in our lives. It was hurt. Pain. There was loss. There was fear.” “On Sunday morning we can get uplifting, encouragement, resurrection in the church. It gives us hope, inspiration. We need each other. The church is crucial.”