During time of tragedy, churches fill a big void

Offering assistance during and after the Sago disaster had some challenging times, pastors say.
By MAYSOON ABDELRASUL
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
SAGO, W.Va. -- The pastor who went to the church where hundreds flocked in to hear news of whether 12 miners were alive or dead said he would never tell people that everything was going to be OK.
Rev. Mark Flynn of the First United Methodist Church in Buchanan, who was at the Sago church minutes after word first spread that miners were trapped underground, said when a preacher makes a promise to people, people take it as a promise from God.
The Rev. Mr. Flynn said in an interview south of Charleston, that he couldn't promise the people in the Sago church that everything was going to be just fine because then people would say that God lied.
He said he didn't want to fill the hearts of families with hollow assurances because he knew these comments could lead to false hope.
Challenge for ministers
The Sago tragedy and other major calamities, including 9/11, have given ministers the unique challenge of helping people maintain their faith even in times of incredible adversity.
Mr. Flynn and others have come to accept that their role is to comfort people when and how they need it and not to pass judgment on how and when people decide to show their faith.
After 9/11, people went to church daily, then weekly, then once a month and after a month or two the people attending church after 9/11 were the same who attended before the disaster hit, Mr. Flynn said.
Mr. Flynn doesn't see this as a problem. He compared people going to church to get healed to people going to a hospital to get well. If patients don't come back to the hospital, doctors perceive that they have done their jobs.
Some pastors think that people got what they needed from the church so they do not feel the need to attend on a regular basis, Mr. Flynn said. "I think everybody needs what the church has to offer," he quickly added.
He said people need faith but sometimes their needs are met in other ways. He said some people choose to be firemen or teachers and give of themselves in that way.
People deal with tragedies on a daily basis. "The smaller more private tragedies are overlooked," Mr. Flynn said.
During the Sago disaster, where 12 miners died after false reports that all had survived, some people just wanted to be part of that story and it's only human nature to want that, he said.
Personal growth
Mr. Flynn said the Sago disaster helped him grow as a pastor. He said he worked with different kinds of people and found that they do have a deep faith and that Scriptures gave him an assurance that he could help others.
His role as a pastor, he said, is to make people feel welcome and meet their needs and not manipulate them. He said this is the best way to keep people at the church.
West Virginia is predominantly Christian-based with separate large denominations. Mr. Flynn said if people are looking for something that his church does not offer, he will send them to churches that can serve their needs.
If people are forced to go to church, they will not benefit, Mr. Flynn said. They need to feel accepted and understood.
The increase in churchgoers has since subsided, not just in West Virginia, but anywhere where there was a rush after a tragedy, Flynn said.
Local churchgoers say the see the same trend.
Exercising faith
Reg Woods said he is a parishioner of the St. James Parish in North Jackson and he goes to church three times a month and he said not everybody has to go to church to have faith.
"I think if people are religious, they don't need an organized venue," Woods said.
Denise Olsen, a regular churchgoer, said she has seen the rise and decline of people attending church.
After a tragedy, people try to find comfort and reason in the church. "They look at themselves as being vulnerable and not infallible and that something can happen to them too, & quot; Olsen said.
Rev. Dennis Sparks, executive director of the West Virginia Council of Churches, said churchgoers are not the only ones who feel vulnerable. The Rev. Mr. Sparks said ministers and others who try to help those during disasters also need spiritual comfort and guidance.
Mr. Sparks went to the Sago church during the hours people were gathered there for word about whether there were survivors.
His initial reaction when he saw the town blocked off and the protection system around the church to keep the press from entering was "holy cow."
"I saw pastors huddled in corners with families," he said. Each clergy member was either assigned a family or just found one with whom they found a connection. He said he made It his work to counsel those pastors.
Mr. Flynn walked into the church at the same time a young woman, Samantha, now a widow of a coal miner, and noticed she didn't have a pastor and began talking with her.
Samantha was not an active member of the church but he knew she needed someone to listen to her.
"I was helping folks through an immediate crisis," he said.