It’s no wonder the Rev. Jeff Peck at Braden River United Methodist Church in Bradenton feels a little like Job from the Old Testament.
In the last 18 months, he’s had to tackle a once-in-a-century pandemic, a road project that cut off the main access to his church and a burst pipe that flooded the fellowship hall, kitchen, bathrooms and office space, causing around $25,000 in damage.
“It was a triple whammy,” Peck said. “One thing after another. I kept looking for the blue skies to appear.”
A break in the storm did come when the church received a $13,000 grant from a special COVID-19 relief fund offered through a partnership between the Florida United Methodist Foundation and the Florida Conference. The foundation pledged $250,000 that’s being matched by the conference.
Peck says it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Everybody was feeling a little weary and discouraged,” he said. “We all could use a little boost. The funding helped replenish our dwindling accounts.”
Braden River is one of 22 churches so far to receive a one-time grant, according to conference treasurer Craig Smelser. To date, $369,383 of the $500,000 provided by the foundation and conference has been distributed.
The conference’s district superintendents are determining which churches that apply for the funds have a dire need for the emergency money and how much they will receive. The remainder of the funds will likely be distributed by the fall, Smelser said.
“Churches had a whole new set of issues to contend with when this pandemic set in,” he said. “It’s not like they had time to budget for any of this. They had to pivot very quickly to adjust to the challenges. And some were just not financially equipped to do that.”
Braden River is an example of a church that had been self-sufficient prior to the COVID-19 crisis, but once in-house worship was canceled, contributions took a hit. Then when the main access road to the campus was closed for several months due to the road project, business at the church thrift shop dropped to about 20 percent of the average $1,000 generated weekly.
The final straw was the $5,000 deductible the church had to pay to the insurance company to repair or replace damages caused by the unexpected flooding.
“With no pandemic and no road closure, maybe that wouldn’t have hurt so much,” Peck said. “But put them all together, and we felt very stressed.”
The grant helped ease some of those burdens and gave church members optimism about the future.
And although attendance has not yet returned to its robust numbers — mainly due to snowbirds who didn’t return to Florida and the continuing threat of COVID-19 — the online giving program launched during the pandemic is now registering steady giving, another hopeful sign for the days ahead.
Foundation president the Rev. Mark Becker says the funds are meant to provide short-term relief so churches can concentrate on what they do best: service through ministry.
“In the end, God is still blessing us and showing us new ways to reach people. We’re still here, and we’re still doing good work.” — Rev. Jeff Peck
“When so many people are suffering, it’s important for them to know that the church is still there,” he said. “In reality, the mission of the church is greater now than it has been in a long time. Our purpose is to ease some of those unexpected burdens that could prevent that service.”
And it’s just one of the ways the foundation has helped churches meet their financial obligations since COVID-19 struck. Last year, the foundation gave churches with outstanding Development Fund loans the option of paying interest only from March to December, allowing them to defer the principal payments to a later date. That option freed up an estimated $1.49 million that helped participants cover lost revenue.
“This pandemic affected every church differently. Some got hit harder than others,” Becker said. “As a financial organization, we felt it was our role to do whatever we could to help. This was unchartered territory for us, but it was the right thing to do.”
Hitting the reset button
The Rev. Dan Prine, lead pastor at Edgewater United Methodist Church in Port Charlotte, says his church suffered several big blows due to the pandemic. The church had to freeze all spending and close its satellite campus in North Port, which led to one retirement and the termination of five staff positions.
In addition, church attendance dropped from an average of 634 weekly pre-COVID to 184. At the end of 2019, church giving was $806,000. Projected giving by the end of this year is $590,000.
Prine says the $40,000 emergency grant his church received comes at a crucial time.
“It’s been a tremendous season of loss and difficulty for us,” he said. “Any assistance we could get is greatly appreciated.”
Prine says the church’s rebound has been hampered by the loss in membership. Following public-health guidelines and those mandated by the conference was a challenge in an area that did not welcome mask mandates.
“Simply put, we lost some members who wanted to go where masks were not required,” he said.
Edgewater now has two mask-optional services.
But there are bright spots that give members hope. Last month, 20 people were baptized. And in the last 18 months, new people — including more families — have joined. Prine estimates about half of its current members are recent additions.
With the rise in families, that means more children to serve. Despite the staffing loss due to the pandemic, Edgewater was able to reinstate a position and hire a new children’s director.
And while the church needed to drastically cut its budget, it did not reduce its outreach ministries. The food pantry continues to serve about 100 people weekly, and a thriving bicycle ministry still gives away bikes to homeless and low-income people.
The church has also resumed its Wednesday night programming, which includes classes and dinner.
Prine says he’s learning to adjust to a new normal and knows that when the crisis is over, churches can’t return to the way things were. They need to hit the reset button and do some things differently.
“We’ve adopted the Home Depot way of thinking,” he said. “Which is, ‘If you can do it, we can help.’ With our staff reduction, we now ask our members to step up more often and volunteer. And they’ve responded to that.”
Members are still getting used to online giving, but Prine is confident that option will be used more often going forward, helping reverse some of the financial declines.
“It’s a spiritual discipline that needs to be developed,” he said. “For younger believers, it’s been slow coming around. It’s our job as leaders to encourage this new way of supporting the church.”
Both Prine and Peck agree the emergency grants have given them room to breathe after months of being on edge. And they also say their faith has given them the courage to navigate these difficult times.
“You’ve got to put your trust in God at times like this,” Peck said. “In the end, God is still blessing us and showing us new ways to reach people. We’re still here, and we’re still doing good work.”