Worship in the Wake

Faith, help and new faces after the flood

Chartered in 2005, Mountainside Lutheran Church sits on the grounds of Camp Linn Haven. Flooding wasn’t new to the church, but nothing had prepared the congregation for what Hurricane Helene would bring.

“We’ve been through floods, and we know what it’s like,” said Rev. Bryan Chestnutt, pastor of the church. “But this was a disaster of an order this whole region has never known.”

Four feet of water overwhelmed the sanctuary. The piano, organ, chairs and hymnals were destroyed. The floor buckled and four feet of the walls had to be removed for mold remediation.”

In the days that followed, recovery revealed new surprises around every corner. “There is always something that you didn’t see coming,” Chestnutt said, “just like we didn’t see that storm coming, and there’s still so much that we just don’t see coming.”

A TEMPORARY HOME AND NEW VISITORS

Though the church building was unusable, worship continued each Sunday in the recreation center of a nearby resort community.

“We ended up getting several families from that development that began to worship with us when we were right near their homes,” Rev. Chestnutt said. “And now that we’re back over (at the camp), which is only a little over a mile, they’re coming here.”

“They found a Bible-teaching, joyful, liturgical church, and it felt like worship to them.”

SUPPLIES AND REINFORCEMENTS

Help began arriving almost immediately. Pallets of supplies were sent by LCMS Disaster Response, led by Rev. Dr. Ross Johnson. “Pastor Johnson is my new best friend,” Chestnutt said in October. “He has been sending us so many supplies that we need. He’s had this experience and knows the kind of things that we need, he sent tools that we’re using today.”

Johnson and his team use existing distribution networks, like Amazon and Costco, to provide timely deliveries in the midst of disaster. “Every disaster is a little bit different. The needs are different,” Johnson said. “So we’ve been working with multiple companies to meet those needs as they arise … and as the response is changing, we can also change what those shipments are.”

Then, Lutheran Early Response Teams (LERT) volunteers from LCMS Disaster Response started showing up. They were a steady presence, providing much needed skills to clean up, repair and improve the facilities. In the spring, Lutheran Servants for Christ supervised college groups that reported for volunteer duties over spring break, including members of the Concordia University Nebraska (CUNE) football team and a group from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

One of their major tasks: rebuilding the church ramp, which had been lifted and warped by flood-waters. The project was expected to take a few days, the ramp was finished in one. And it wasn’t just brute strength; they looked for the best solution to serve well into the future.

They also built a new woodshed, replacing one that was falling apart.

“The amount of work that gets done when you give students good supervision and a joyful environment … it’s amazing what they knocked out here.” Chestnutt said. “It was really heartwarming that these groups have come with the energy to help us improve.”