[StBernard] Church returns to building, post-Katrina

[Westley Annis]

Church returns to building, post-Katrina 

Posted on Sep 4, 2007 | by Karen L. Willoughby
POYDRAS, La. (BP)--Poydras Baptist Church this summer became the first
Southern Baptist church in St. Bernard Parish to return to its worship
center since Hurricane Katrina devastated the area two years ago. 

That the church did so is testament to the effectiveness of the Cooperative
Program, Pastor John Galey says. The Cooperative Program is Southern
Baptist's way of combining the efforts and resources of local churches to
make a difference in the lives of people across the nation and around the
world. 

Galey opened an Aug. 11 dedication of the renovated worship center by
reading a list of 50 churches and associations that had a part in the
rebuilding. 

"We experienced the reality of the Cooperative Program," Galey told Baptist
Press. "We give 10 percent -- we consider it a tithe. We know the good the
Cooperative Program does here in Louisiana and around the world. But there's
a difference between knowing something and experiencing it. 

"We've had hundreds of people working on our church. I'd say maybe even
close to a thousand," Galey said. "Churches large and small, working
together to do something that without the joint effort would have been
overwhelming. That's what the Cooperative Program does."

A DVD produced by the SBC Executive Committee called "The Difference, Vol.
2" features 30 video stories of how Southern Baptists worked together in the
aftermath of Katrina. Galey is featured in at least two segments. On the
DVD, Galey recalls a prayer to God upon his return to St. Bernard Parish a
month after the storm. By that time most of the dead had been found, and all
the rest had been evacuated. There was no electricity and no fresh water.
Police, military and other first-responders were there, plus Galey and the
gunk. 

"OK, Lord, what am I called to do?" he asked. "I'm called to tell people
about Jesus," he reminded himself. 

"So I ordered a bunch of tracts, kept on with my quiet time, and studied and
prepared like I was preparing for Sunday morning, and I grabbed those tracts
and went out in the community where I lived and told people about Jesus." 

Only a few residents returned to St. Bernard Parish before December 2005.
Missouri Baptists were there a month before that. They found a mud-caked,
stench-ridden, broken-down shell of a community with trash everywhere, and
houses still straddling the highway. Missouri Baptists, Galey said,
"adopted" St. Bernard Parish.

"First Baptist Arabi needed to [be torn] down, St. Bernard Baptist had water
up to the roof and had oil all in the church," Galey said of two other local
churches. "... I was the first one back into the area and out of all the
churches, I was told that we were the only one structurally sound. Missouri
[Baptists] began using their resources to help us, and for two months
basically I was like a go-fer for them.... There was always something to be
done. 

"Being on the receiving end of the Cooperative Program, it's a time for me
to sit back and actually be ministered to, and I'm humbled by that, and
grateful and thankful for it," Galey said on the DVD. 

He says the same thing today. 

"What we've gone through has made the Cooperative Program more real to me,"
Galey told Baptist Press. "Knowing something and experiencing it are two
different things. With Katrina, I experienced the reality of the Cooperative
Program.... It's basically churches cooperating together and pooling
resources." 

That experience confirmed Poydras Baptist's commitment to give 10 percent of
the offerings it receives to the Cooperative Program. 

"I've made a commitment that every church I pastor is going to give 10
percent or more to the Cooperative Program," Galey said. "One, I just feel
comfortable doing it. That money goes to support missionaries. To me, it's
like the tithe of the church. I have pastor buddies who disagree with me,
but I can tell you -- we, as a church, we give to the overall work of the
Kingdom. It's a great way to be involved in missions. It's just the right
thing to do. 

"And two, it goes to so many places," he added. "Here in Louisiana you're
helping Louisiana College, the children's home, all six [SBC] seminaries,
all international missionaries -- it goes so many places. It supports so
many things. Because of it ... we have a part in the salvation of souls, and
that's what it's all about -- God's redemptive work all over the world." 

God's Cooperative Program-based redemptive work in St. Bernard Parish after
Katrina started with the Disaster Relief ministry of Missouri Baptists,
Galey said. 

Katrina's floodwaters had reached above the four-and-a-half foot mark in
Poydras Baptist's three buildings -- the worship center, fellowship hall and
educational building. The roofs of the fellowship hall and educational
building also were damaged. 

"It totally destroyed everything," Galey said. "Everything had to go."

Missouri Baptists started by sawing pews into sections that could be carried
out to the curb for trash pickup. They gutted the building to its studs,
strung new electrical conduit, and worked their way to completion of a
building that now looks brand new. 

Locals began trickling back in mid-December 2005 to St. Bernard Parish --
which is a few miles southeast of New Orleans -- living in FEMA trailers
while they worked on their homes. The trickle grew a bit stronger after
January 2006, and by five months after the storm Galey knew it was time to
restart services.

The first one was in February 2006, in the partially-restored fellowship
hall of Poydras Baptist. About 60 people -- 35 from St. Bernard, in addition
to volunteers and dignitaries -- participated in that first service. Galey
preached from Matthew 16, where Jesus said He'll build His church. And
afterward, six people from Walker, La., served the congregation jambalaya
they had cooked in the church parking lot. 

About 100 people attended Poydras Baptist before Katrina; about 70 attend
now. 

"We're doing well," Galey said. "Our tithes and offerings are about what
they were pre-Katrina. There's a great unity, a great peace in the church." 

All construction is done. Gray carpet has been laid and dark blue pew chairs
brought in. There's a cross in the baptistery and a clear acrylic pulpit.
The music comes from an Integrity Worship DVD, fronted by a five-person
praise ensemble. 

"All our energy and focus was on rebuilding," Galey said. "Now we're
restructuring and reorganizing the church. I'm ministering in the community,
and we're having a lot of children and youth activities -- kids camps,
baseball camps, Vacation Bible School -- things to get the community
involved." 

Poydras Baptist members meet in homes one evening a week for Bible study.
Sunday School is scheduled to start this month. 

"God has really revealed His goodness to me, the realness of who He is,"
Galey said. "I don't want to say my behavior has always been great, but
despite my failure and my attitude -- I remember saying [after Katrina] 'Why
did this happen on my watch? It's not as if ministry wasn't hard enough
before' -- God has displayed His faithfulness and His goodness to me. 

"Katrina has changed the way we do church," he continued. "Since the storm
God has removed the negativity from within the church.... Katrina really
changed me in that I have extremely low tolerance for foolishness in the
church. Patience, yes, patience with those who don't know better and those
who are young or weak in their faith. But since Katrina and going through
all I went through, I'm not putting up with the foolishness of those who
should know better. I'm not putting up with that." 

Since Katrina, since being on the receiving end of the Cooperative Program,
Galey said, he's become more missions-focused, more missions-driven. 

"Now I've internalized it," he said. "Now I get it. Hey, this is what we're
to be about." 
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