Churches cope with damage, dispersed flocks
By Bob Lind
The Forum
Churches needing federal assistance to repair flood damages can get it. But unlike the grace of God, it’s not free.

It probably will come in the form of low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration.

The argument of church/state separation doesn’t come into play, because the loans would be provided through the "business and non-profit" category of SBA loans, according to Jim Atkins, public information officer for the SBA in Fort Worth, Texas, which covers the Dakotas-Minnesota area.

Since churches fall in the non-profit category, they are as eligible for loans to repair and replace disaster-caused property and contents as any other non-profit organization.

The SBA can loan a church up to $1.5 million to cover uninsured losses, Atkins said in a telephone interview.

How it works

The procedure, he said, is this:

• The church applies for assistance through the Federal Emergency Assistance Agency (FEMA).
• FEMA then probably will refer the church to the SBA.
• The property is inspected, hopefully within two or three days, Atkins says. An estimate of costs of repairs and damages is sent to Fort Worth.
• "We try to give them an answer to the request within seven to 20 days after we get the application," Atkins says, noting that some requests take longer than others.

The church, if approved, will get a direct loan from the SBA.

Rita Kepner, a FEMA spokeswoman now stationed in Fargo, says a church providing services, such as daycare, may be eligible for other assistance, also.

"If they have daycare that’s open to the community, they probably are eligible," Kepner says. "If it was strictly a Bible school, open only on Sunday, and giving only religious instruction, it may not be.

"When I say ‘We’ can help," she says, "it’s with a capital ‘W.’ It’s everybody: the Red Cross, other groups, which might supply assistance. FEMA acts as a coordinator.

"There is no simple answer to this. But churches certainly should apply, to see what can be done. We know how important the church is to the community and we want to do what we can to help."

United may qualify

All of which means churches such as United Lutheran in Grand Forks may be in line for considerable assistance.

United operates the second largest daycare in North Dakota, according to the Rev. Jim Johnson, United’s senior pastor; it has more than 200 children attending every day.

United has been given office space in Trinity Lutheran Church, Moorhead. There, it calls itself "United in Exile."

Via computers, phones and faxes, it has located 260 family units out of its 3,100-person congregation, Johnson said.

He and the two associate pastors have been holding services in Bemidji and at Hope Lutheran in Fargo for United’s members in those areas. Starting this Sunday, it will be back in Grand Forks, but not in the sanctuary. It will hold services at 10 a.m. at Amundson’s Funeral Home until further notice.

Money is a major issue for flooded churches.

"We don’t expect significant income for months," Johnson says. "People will be gone for many months. Grand Forks will be a much smaller city for awhile."

Gathering the flock

Another Grand Forks church, Faith Evangelical Free Church, is holding Sunday services at 1 p.m. in St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, south of Grand Forks.

"We’re still trying to locate all of our people," Patsy Heyde, a church secretary, said Tuesday. The Sunday attendance averages more than 500.

She was working in the church office; only the lower level of the church had water in it, she said.

Heyde said she has no idea when services again would be held in the church building.

The situation was worse for Calvary Lutheran Church. That 3,000-member Grand Forks church "probably had 8 to 12 inches of floodwater over the entire building," the Rev. Steve Wold said, "plus the basement youth room is flooded and so is the choir room."

Calvary has been holding services hither and yon: at Hope Lutheran in Fargo; at Mayville (N.D.) Lutheran; at Sharon Lutheran, a Grand Forks church out of the flood area.

"We’re not sure, but we hope to have the sanctuary cleaned up so we can have church there May 11," Wold said.

The congregation’s operating finances, he said, "is a hard question. Financially, this will be a real challenge. But my belief is the members of Calvary will give from the heart and finances will come in from outside the area and it all will be taken care of."

Wold says that out of this disaster will come "an exciting future."

United Lutheran’s Johnson feels the same way.

"All during Lent," Johnson said, "we had a huge rainbow in front of the sanctuary. It’s theme was ‘A Rainbow of Promises.’ That rainbow will be in front of us at Amundson’s when we meet Sunday."