By Rick Wolcott*

On Saturday, August 10 Ohio Governor Mike DeWine declared a State of Emergency in eight Northeast Ohio counties because of tornadoes and strong storms that raced through those areas earlier in the week.

“Five EF-1 tornadoes and widespread straight-line wind damage occurred across Northeast Ohio. Over 400,000 residents were left without power,” stated a post on the National Weather Service website. “Cuyahoga, Lake, and Geauga Counties were hit especially hard with over half of residents experiencing power outages.”

The eight counties are spread across three of the four districts in the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, with Cuyahoga, Lake, and Geauga Counties all being part of the Northern Waters District. Churches in that district suffered damage to their buildings – but not to the Spirit nor the witness of their people.

“We continue to pray for people in the community and for all of us that have been through so much this week,” Rev. Jody Baker said on Sunday to the congregation of Chardon United Methodist Church, whose church education wing suffered extensive water damage after a branch from a fallen tree broke through the roof of the building.

“We lift-up lots of prayers for our first responders, who have been very busy this week, along with all of our utility companies. We pray for them this morning,” Rev. Beth Wilterdink stated on Sunday to the people of Mayfield United Methodist Church, whose church building sustained damage and lost power for four days.

The steeple on Mayfield UMC in Chesterland was knocked sideways as a result of strong winds from an EF-1 tornado with wind gusts of 110 mph that caused damage across its 4.79-mile path through Chesterland and Kirtland.

On Friday and Saturday crews were on hand removing the steeple and its base so that a structural engineer can determine if the building sustained any other damage. Until that assessment is done the church building is closed, but the ministry of Mayfield UMC continues. On Sunday parishioners gathered in the pavilion behind the church for worship and communion.

“Even though we are definitely in a different environment than we typically are on a Sunday morning we celebrate that we are able to gather and have the ability to be in God’s first creation here in nature. We celebrate God’s goodness that no one was hurt and God’s goodness that so many people have been pulling together this past week,” Wilterdink said. “God is with us and God’s goodness is with us. We give thanks this morning.”

Not far from Chesterland, the Chardon UMC congregation was also pulling together to support one another and to care for the people of the community. During the time of announcements in Sunday’s service, Baker provided updates to the congregation.

“What a week, huh, church? Thanks for all of your prayers as we process this past week and try to figure out what was happening with our own facility here but also so many of our parishioners also had their own different struggles,” he shared.

In the midst of their own issues – with work being done to cut out wet drywall and remove water from flooded classrooms – the church served as a relief center for residents without power to gather to recharge themselves and their cellphones and to get a good meal. The fire department assisted by providing charging devices, pizza, and subs. Baker said the congregation was able to assist 20 people before the church also lost power.

“It is easy to fall into using language that would have us believe the physical buildings we meet in are the Church – nothing could be further from the truth,” said Rev. Bruce Hitchcock, superintendent of the Northern Waters District.

“The storms last week offer an illustration of this reality. Many buildings in Northern Waters were damaged, trees were uprooted, and the buildings were without power for many days. Yet, the Church remained active, vital, and loving. All of the damaged buildings housed the Body of the Risen Christ. The Church remained in service. Worship took place outside of buildings. Damaged buildings without power still provided food, shelter, and a loving fellowship. These ministries are the work of the Church. Christ in each of us is the Church. Christ in us bringing us together to offer life-giving love to our neighbors is the Church. Perhaps a lesser focus on buildings would lead to a greater focus on loving our neighbors,” Hitchcock said. “We are grateful for our properties, but much more grateful, vibrant, and alive because of who lives within us!

*Rick Wolcott is executive director of Communications for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.