Feb 28, 2017

Stronger




Coal City Stronger
On Monday, June 22, as I was standing in the emergency room with one of my parishioners in Champaign. I received a message from a friend that a tornado had come through Coal City, Illinois. My last Sunday as pastor in Champaign was the day before, we were to move to Coal City in just 3 days. Though I was Facebook friends with several from Coal City, I only had two phone numbers. I called the first, it was Ken Miller our lay leader.  He answered the phone with a gentle calmness in his voice.   He had just returned from the crawl space in their home and everything was fine.  The other number I had was our church secretary…I called her and the report was not as good as she stood in her bedroom and was looking up at her roof missing.  By 10:30PM, reports were trickling in that this was serious, perhaps even more so than the tornado 19 months earlier. 
As my wife and I talked that night with our own move pending and plenty of packing waiting for us, we decided that Coal City was where I needed to be that next morning that perhaps I could help in some way.  But as I walked into the Coal City United Methodist Church, I discovered less than 12 hours after a tornado, was that I needed to make sure that I would not be in the way of what was already happening. The church had already become a place of refuge for those without homes, a distribution center of resources for those without, a sanctuary for those who needed peace, and a volunteer center for those finding some way to help in the midst of natural disaster. What I saw was people standing up in unity.
Every generation can speak of a defining historical moment in their time. Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination, The Challenger Space Shuttle, 9/11. We can speak of where we were when we heard the news and the feeling that came about as we watched.  The same can be said for June 22, 2015.  Maybe it didn’t impact a global generation, but it certainly left it’s mark on the lives of those who sat in fear, on those who lost their homes, on those who lost some of their treasures, and for many lost a little bit of themselves that day.  So for good or for ill, we will remember where we were when Coal City saw it’s second tornado in 19 months.  
It is human nature to commemorate these days as the memories are forever etched in our minds. Some try to forget, but most will never forget. Some wonder why we would focus our thoughts on a day of disaster and loss, why even have a gathering or a plaque. But what we choose to remember today is what will leave the legacy.  You see, our challenge today is to not to relive a day when we were hunkered down but to enshrine the day when Coal City stood up.
Today is not a day to commemorate fear, it’s a day to commemorate when Coal City stood up to fear. Today is not a day to remember loss, it’s a day to remember when Coal City stood up to rebuild. Today is not a day mark chaos, it’s a day to mark when Coal City stood up with a plan to work with one another.   Today is not a day to remind us of when we were not together, it is a day to remind of us of when Coal stood up together in unity. Today is not a day to dig into the past, but it is a day to stand up and march forward together into the future.
Our motto has been CCStrong. Well, I just wanted to stop by today to say…We are CCStronger than ever because we stood up. While our culture gets more superficial and more divided with time, we are invited to be even more connected to something so profound that has withstood the course of history…we tap into a love and compassion that reminds us of who we were and where we were and then we live that same message. To be a part of a legacy is join with others in order to be part of something bigger than ourselves.  That’s what makes us stronger through these days…is that we don’t stay back …but we stand up and go forth and live in community.  

When the Adrenaline Runs Out



When the Adrenaline Runs Out
Rev. Bradley Shumaker, Coal City United Methodist Church
(Rev. Shumaker is the new pastor at Coal City UMC.  With training as a Crisis Counselor, he is the chairperson of the Emotional and Spiritual Care Committee of the Long Term Recovery Team for Coal City.)

It has been over a month since the EF-3 tornado swept through Coal City.  In these weeks that have followed, homes have been inspected, and either razed or triaged, families have either moved or scrambled to make repairs, businesses have shared resources, volunteers have cleaned and distributed, city leaders have listened and planned, school officials have sought out families, churches have opened their doors.  Needless to say, when you look at the statistics of damage and resource distribution, the one unmeasured piece in all of this is the adrenaline needed to make the push through emergency and disaster relief.  

I am new to town (moving here four days after the tornado) but I did drive up here 10 hours after the tornado to provide whatever help I could, and by the time I walked in the door of the United Methodist Church, the building had already been mobilized to be the Disaster Relief Center.  Along with the trained responders from the church, other agencies were gathering resources and setting up shop in the church providing case management.  Businesses, both large and small, were already on sight donating goods and services for affected families.  And people from all over the area walked through the doors of the church offering to help in any way possible.  Above and beyond the mobilizing of volunteers, was the quick response of those affected who had to seal up their homes, seek shelter, find temporary housing, and spend the days working with insurance agents and contractors. 

The immediate response from the affected and those serving has shown a month long sprint of amazing comradery among organizations, community among neighbors, trust among officials and residents, and true grit and determination from all involved to get through this initial push.  These are gifts made possible from the adrenaline rush needed to bring relief in a time of crisis.  But what do we do when the adrenaline runs out?  

While most have settled into temporary homes and returned to work, two thoughts eventually commonly come to mind: 1) this isn’t my home , and 2) I am tired.  The adrenaline that once fueled the transition has dissipated and reality sets in. When kids return to school, the tornado will be a topic of conversation and reflection among playground conversation.  When the first tornado drill takes place at school or at home, fears will resurface. When weather alerts once again hit our phones and radios, we will remember a time that was. When boxes don’t contain once precious treasures, frustrations will rise. When rebuilding hits a snag, anger will come out.  Again, what do we do when the adrenaline runs out?   

What is important is that we all need to know, no matter where you find yourself in the disaster (the displaced or the volunteer, the school age or the retired): you are not alone.  This is no flippant statement, but a true statement of community and care that makes the Coal City Strong moniker even stronger: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  Not only are there others going through this, but there are resources available to all to talk through these fears, anxieties, and frustrations.  And even more, you do not have to walk alone on this journey to recovery.

Resources that are both faith based and non-faith based.  School officials and counselors are readying themselves for these questions from children.  Area agencies including hospitals, hospice programs, and the Salvation Army have offered counseling services to anyone who is in need. Your community churches and their pastors are here for you to walk with you through any spiritual or emotional matters you may want to address.  Small groups are forming (such as the women’s group meeting on Wednesdays at the Coal City Library) offering safe environments for conversation with others who were affected.   

When the adrenaline runs out, the comradery, community, and trust do not have to leave with it.  These gifts can be key to the long term recovery of individuals and our community.  May we make the Coal City Strong motto be one that we live through the way we move together.

Catching Up

It's been awhile, blogosphere.  I thought I would run a couple of old articles from the past couple of years that I submitted and ran in area newspapers. Maybe we can get caught up....