Gordon empties the pews

If people were praying to be spared by the hurricane, they did it from home.

By JEAN HELLER and MIKE WILSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 18, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- Today's front page reports that Hurricane Gordon didn't do much damage when it swirled past Pinellas County on Sunday.

Tell that to the county's pastors.

"Fourteen people showed up for the 8:30 service. The 10 o'clock service was canceled. I waited around for the 11 a.m. service and 10 people showed up. We had a prayer and I sent them home," said the Rev. Terry Markins, of First United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg.

"I guess this is the first time in the history of the church that I didn't even take an offering."

On a normal Sunday, the church draws 550 to 700 people and takes in $15,000 to $20,000 in the plate. "I think we had three or four envelopes turned in today for a total of two or three hundred," Markins said.

Pastors across the Tampa Bay area told similar stories. The 8 a.m. service at Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church in St. Petersburg drew three dedicated souls, not even enough for a loud amen. St. Thomas Episcopal Church, also in St. Petersburg, had 70 at its 10 a.m. service, down about 300 from the norm. At Gulf to Lake Baptist Church in Crystal River, attendance was down from 700 to 600, the Rev. Lloyd Bertine said.

"It was actually pretty good considering that all our people who live on the coast had to stay home and pick their belongings off the floors," he said.

Lakewood United Church of Christ in St. Petersburg drew 25 instead of the usual 75. What the group lacked in numbers it made up for in zeal.

"Among the people who did come, there was a sense of hardiness -- "Well, we're here' -- that was kind of fun," the Rev. Jefferson Wells said. "And one entire wall of our sanctuary is windows, so we could watch the storm and the trees bending and stuff flying by. It was sort of spectacular."

Some churches took a serious economic hit. The Prayer Tower Church of God in Christ canceled Sunday school, costing the church $1,200 to $2,000, Elder Clarence Welch said.

"You just have to consider that it's a deficit," Welch said. "It's very difficult to make up for that particular day, and you already have it budgeted."

Many church leaders are counting on parishioners make up for the losses when they come back next week.

"Included in my prayers for today is that our Methodist folks, as well as others, will continue to be sensitive to the fact that we have to have our tithes and offerings," said the Rev. Kevin James, district superintendent for Pinellas and Pasco Counties.

James was scheduled to be at First Methodist in St. Petersburg Sunday morning, but stayed home because of the storm. He and his family watched the televised service from St. Paul United Methodist Church in Largo.

St. Paul, the largest Methodist church in the county, normally broadcasts its 11 a.m. service live on WCTV-Ch. 22. But the storm jammed the microwave transmission, so the church videotaped the 9:30 service and rushed the tape to the station in time for the 11 a.m. broadcast.

"We were determined to do it because we know a lot of folks would be shut in today," Farmer said.

Indeed they were. St. Paul usually gets 1,500 people for its services. Sunday it had 235.

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