by Jay Therrell
October 18, 2022
My family moved to Florida when I was four years old. Since then, I’ve been proud to be a Floridian. There is so much to love about our state. It doesn’t take a Floridian long, however, to realize that for six months of the year, we live in “hurricane season.” June 1 through November 30 always puts Floridians on alert that a storm in the Atlantic could head this way.
Sadly, on Wednesday, September 28, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida as either a strong category 4 or possibly a category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds over 150mph. The devastation has been massive. As I write this the death toll in Florida is 120 souls. Entire communities on the barrier islands of Sanibel, Captiva, Fort Myers Beach, Pine Island, and Cayo Costa have been cut off from the mainland. There is not much left on any of them.
The initial pictures and video footage were horrific. Large boats littered downtown Fort Myers. People’s homes in Cape Coral had two feet of mud in them. Small businesses in Punta Gorda, Bonita Springs, and Estero were wiped away. I was privileged to serve a church in Southwest Florida for eight years and my heart aches for the people who live there.
The Beauty of Connectionalism
One of my heroes of the faith, the Rev. Dr. Maxie Dunnam, always encouraged us as Asbury Seminary students to “…meet people at their point of need and offer them Christ.” He encouraged us to do that because it was the genius of John Wesley. Its living out a practical theology where head and heart meet hands. When we practice this way of living out our Christian faith, people are helped, and they’re pointed toward the author of salvation: Jesus. Not only are someone’s short-term needs met, but their eternal needs are as well.
It’s part of the beauty of connectionalism that has always been significant to the Methodist movement. When we face storms, we know we’re not alone. Imagine my extreme disappointment when multiple people shared with me the comments of a bishop in the Southeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church who reportedly told people gathered at a regional gathering that former United Methodists in Southwest Florida would soon find out what connectionalism means because the Global Methodist Church wouldn’t help them. I was heartbroken, and I also emailed that bishop asking that the bishop retract their statement. To date, I have not received a response. In the aftermath of a natural disaster is not the time to make political “hay.” It’s a time to forget differences and instead do as John Wesley purportedly said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
Rolling Up Our Sleeves
Contrary to a certain UMC bishop’s comments, in the face of a terrible disaster, the Wesleyan Covenant Association and the Global Methodist Church immediately got to work meeting people at their point of need and offering them Christ. The WCA-Florida Regional Chapter immediately began coordinating the needs of churches across Southwest Florida with no regard to anyone’s theological persuasion. They set up distribution points at churches in Punta Gorda, Cape Coral, and Estero. They also set up collection sites across Florida where people could drop off needed supplies. Lastly, they began receiving donations so that people could trust that 100% of what they gave would go directly to people in Southwest Florida to help them rebuild.
To date, over $75,000 has been donated through the WCA-Florida. We are deeply grateful for the Global Methodist Church and Good News who helped get the word out so people could give. If you would like to join those efforts by giving, you can click here. Rest assured that not one penny will go to administrative costs. Everything you give will put supplies and other help into the hands of Southwest Floridians reeling from Hurricane Ian.
Moving forward, the WCA-Florida Regional Chapter is coordinating teams of volunteers to help people in Southwest Florida. If you would like to volunteer a team, you can email info@wcafl.net. They will be glad to help you figure out where the need is greatest and connect you with the appropriate people.
Thank You
On behalf of Floridians who are hurting badly, thank you for your generosity. Thank you for demonstrating the love of Jesus when it matters most. Thank you for not caring about theological labels and simply meeting people at their point of need and offering them Christ. I can tell you first-hand that it makes all the difference.
The Rev. Jay Therrell is the president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church.