Today's episode features two Ruling Elders from Tres Rios Presbytery. If you are not familiar with Tres Rios Presbytery, it is a group of congregations and ministries located in the westernmost portion of Texas, and it’s known as Tres Rios because the presbytery is marked by three rivers: the Concho, Pecos, and Rio Grande.

In our disaster work, we actually don’t hear a lot coming out of Tres Rios Presbytery, because historically, this is an area that does not experience many of the types of environmental disasters we are used to across other parts of our synod.

I even looked back through the history of Tres Rios Presbytery and found that there was one flooding event in 2009 and a wildfire in 2011 that were significant enough for the presbytery to receive financial grants from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to support its response to those events.

But I want people to know about Tres Rios Presbytery, that even though they are not often impacted by tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and fires themselves, the presbytery already has a culture of generosity when it comes to responding to disaster needs across other parts of our synod and beyond. In my time working with them, there has never been any hesitancy from the presbytery to send their funds and prayers wherever they are needed, and from their recent response to Hurricane Helene, I know this generosity remains strong.

Part of my work with this presbytery over the past year has been to contextualize what disaster preparedness looks like for their communities and congregations. This year, two congregations stepped forward to pilot an initiative focused on enhancing Church Safety & Crisis Response. So, on today’s episode, you are going to hear from Connie Chapman of Grace Presbyterian Church in El Paso, Texas, and Jeanie Holbrook of FPC Odessa, Texas, about how their congregations are willing to assess their capacity to respond to medical and critical incidents that churches are more likely to encounter than natural disasters. You’re going to hear how their collective efforts have made an impact not only within their church but also in developing important relationships with emergency responders right in their own neighborhoods.

This is a recording of a Hurricane Preparedness Webinar and Table Top exercise that the Synod hosted on July 11, 2024, just four days after Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the coast of Texas. Earlier this year, many forecasters predicted that this years’ Atlantic hurricane season will be more active than usual, with as many as 25 named storms to form from now through November. And as we have just witnessed, Hurricane Beryl is the earliest Category 5 storm on record. In addition to the heavy damage caused across the Caribbean islands, Venezuela, and Mexico; Hurricane Beryl impacted at least a dozen states in the U.S. with tornadoes, wind damage, flooding, and of course, the power outages affecting millions of residents during what is already an extremely hot summer.

We hope this webinar and the conversation shared between those who attended this event will give you the resources, courage, and support you need to make a disaster plan for yourself, your family, your congregation and your community today. Our hope for this hurricane season is for us to not be overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty, but rather that we might be grounded in the gifts of our faith and set free to serve in this shared ministry together, because the truth is: you are not alone. My prayer is for this conversation to help you find inspiration, community and connection in the Sun.

Our latest Sunspot’s Disaster Partnership Conversation podcast features a three-part series, highlighting the tornado recovery efforts across the Presbytery of Arkansas. On March 31, 2023, a high-end EF3 tornado hit Central Arkansas, damaging areas of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, and Jacksonville. In that same storm system, another EF3 tornado swept through Wynne, Arkansas. Five lives were lost as a result of these storms.

In this three part series, you’ll meet two survivors: LuAnne Dugan from Wynne, AR and the Rev. Marie Mainard O’Connell from Little Rock. Throughout these episodes, you’ll hear stories of their experiences during and after the tornadoes and given a glimpse into how their communities are doing one year later.

There are certainly some similarities between the recovery progress in Wynne and Little Rock, but you’ll also hear some extra challenges and complexities that a city like Little Rock faces when economic disparities add an additional layer of difficulty to recovery. Both LuAnne and Marie share the wisdom they’ve gained through these experiences, like how to understand your insurance coverage and how to care for yourself, while also caring for others after a traumatic event.

You can continue to support the long term recovery efforts in both Wynne and Little Rock, but giving directly to the Presbytery of Arkansas, and selecting the “PDA-Local Presbytery Committee” option. The presbytery’s Disaster Preparedness and Response Subcommittee remain connected to the Long Term Recovery committees in both regions. You can also volunteer directly by serving at Ferncliff Camp & Conference Center, whose Disaster Assistance Center is an integral source of support before, during, and after disasters.