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By Ken Walker
State Correspondent

Greenville—Second Baptist Church of Greenville recently acquired a 250-kilowatt generator, the final step in becoming a Red Cross shelter during disasters.

Purchase of the generator, which cost nearly $40,000, was funded by a grant from the Felix E. Martin Jr. Foundation.

Named for the man who left his estate to benefit community projects in Muhlenberg County, a previous foundation grant paid more than $40,000 last year to wire the church for a generator.

Pastor Ray England said Red Cross certification will help Second Baptist, Greenville meet community needs during disasters like last year’s ice storm that blanketed the state.

“With the ice storm we were getting short on food supplies,” England recalled. “We were taking donations from other churches and had to send a truck to Bowling Green to buy food. Being a Red Cross shelter, they will send food to us.”

To achieve shelter status, Second Baptist installed showers, made its kitchen large enough to feed more than 800 people and acquired military cots.

Members also completed training, some through Red Cross and others through the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s disaster relief ministry.

Coy Webb, KBC’s disaster relief associate, said 23 members of the Greenville church have completed training with the convention.

Despite the cost of Second Baptist’s improvements, Webb said Kentucky Baptist churches can become Red Cross shelters without a sizable investment.

“It depends on the degree a church wants to be involved,” Webb said. “It can range from turning over the building to the Red Cross and they man it, all the way down to the church running it and getting resources.”

Even small churches are capable of serving in that capacity, he said, pointing out that in rural areas where there isn’t a sizable public facility church, aid can be significant.

There are three types of shelter classifications, starting with a church offering its building but Red Cross manning the operation. With partner shelters, Red Cross maintains administrative control but church members primarily staff it, with help from Red Cross volunteers.

The third is known as a supported shelter, where the church maintains administrative control and supplies all the volunteers.

Second Baptist chose the latter because members wanted to retain the right to minister as they see fit, England said.

“I think each church has to make its own decision,” the pastor said of what kind of model to follow. “We partner with our community socially, but evangelistically we reserve the right to share the gospel.”

Other Kentucky Baptist churches that have secured Red Cross affiliation indicate it has helped them better serve their own communities.

Walnut Street Baptist Church in Louisville is a partner shelter, serving meals and providing shelter to more than 300 people for eight days after the 2009 ice storm. The Red Cross brought in cots, food, blankets, medical supplies and other items needed for the emergency.

Tina Lewis, director of the church’s Infant Resource Project, said becoming an official shelter helped it serve residents from seven high-rise buildings in the area.

“They had all the equipment we didn’t have,” said Lewis, who spearheaded the church’s participation with the Red Cross. “They provided the equipment and we provided the facility and volunteers. They know more about it than we do.”

First Baptist Church of Shelbyville became a supported shelter about three years ago, not long after it completed a family life center that included a 7,500-square-foot gymnasium.

Andy McDonald, discipleship and outreach pastor, said the congregation felt God wanted them to use the new facility for more than playing basketball and other recreational opportunities.

First Baptist, Shelbyville decided to pursue Red Cross affiliation after the public school system asked if it could use the church in case of an emergency evacuation, the minister said.

“It was a community thing,” McDonald said. The schools “have never had to do it, thankfully. (But) that also prompted us to talk to the Red Cross.”

Ironically, although the church was placed on alert after last year’s ice storm, the Red Cross wound up not needing First Baptist as a shelter. About 10 members did serve on chainsaw crews, helping clean up several properties.

McDonald said having that kind of preparedness is important in building good relationships with the community.

Care for neighbors

In addition to its Red Cross status, in April the church hosted a Touched Twice medical clinic, serving about 500 people.

Such steps help show the church genuinely cares about its neighbors by showing the gospel with actions as well as words, McDonald said.

“That’s what motivated us,” he noted. “We want to be Jesus with skin on in the event of a disaster.

“We didn’t want people in desperate need to drive by our facility and think, ‘That’s not a place I can go to get help.’ We want people to (know) First Baptist is a place they can go when they need help in disaster.”

As for whether other Kentucky Baptists should consider becoming Red Cross shelters, McDonald advised them to pray about it. Not every church will have the physical plant needed to provide those services, but many do, he said.

“Pray about it and bring it to the people to see if there is support,” McDonald recommended. “We found overwhelming support. The attitude here was, ‘Of course we need to do this.’”

Western Recordler issue date: July 20, 2010