notes from the field

checking in on Tennessee and western Kentucky

We’ve come to see February as ‘Special Offering season’ for Week of Compassion, where many Disciples congregations receive annual offerings dedicated to this shared work of disaster relief, refugee response, and sustainable development.

​But offerings come as more than coins and checks in offering plates and gifts online. Enduring connections -  introductions to new people and ideas - tool trailers and storage closets -  strategic planning and thoughtful visioning - creative solutions to seemingly insurmountable concerns … these are sacred offerings, too. 

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all photos Week of Compassion

Earlier this month, Caroline Hamilton-Arnold, Week of Compassion’s Associate Director for Domestic Disaster Response, spent time with Disciples and ecumenical colleagues in Kentucky and Tennessee: hearing stories, collecting and connecting resources, getting updates from ongoing disaster recovery, dreaming about next steps and new possibilities, and spending time in worship, support, and fellowship.

In early December 2023, 18 confirmed tornadoes raked through middle and western Tennessee, including the Nashville metropolitan area and especially impacting Clarksville. In the months since, Week of Compassion has been in contact with local church leaders, regional staff, ecumenical partners, and Nashville VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Assisting in Disaster), which is coordinating the Long-Term Recovery Group. 

Caroline met with representatives of four local congregations and the regional staff, assessing needs for the immediate term and preparing to respond as needed within the area’s long-term recovery group plans. It was encouraging to see progress already being made, and to get a first-hand look at congregational food support ministries, and consider ways congregations can partner together in their community’s recovery effort. Week of Compassion pays careful attention to conversations about individual and family struggles - housing shortages, astronomical high costs, insurance complications, and more. These often hidden and unmet needs are important places for Week of Compassion to focus our work.

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In oddly coincidental timing, two years prior to the Tennessee storms, in December 2021, another system of surprising and unseasonable tornadoes sliced through western Kentucky, leaving Mayfield and Dawson Springs and the areas around them especially hard hit. 

Part of this recent visit included meetings with Hopkins County and Mayfield/Graves County Long-Term Recovery Groups (LTRGs) and a panel discussion that included Pastor Kara Foster of First CC Madisonville and two members of the Hopkins County LTRG. Caroline was able to make a site visit in Mayfield to see progress on New Lease on Life houses and LTRG repair/rebuild projects. In addition to preaching at First Christian Madisonville, Carolie also visited First CC Princeton, and Second CC Mayfield, as well as spending time with Rev. Rachel Nance Woehler (Minister for the West Area of the Kentucky Region) and Rev. Milton West (former pastor at First Mayfield, now at First Christian Dawson Springs). 

A final piece of this Week of Compassion site visit was celebrating the improvements to volunteer housing at First Christian Church Paducah with Pastor Leah Eubanks. Being a host site for work groups, caring for volunteers who come to work in community, is a sacred offering all its own. 

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For an up-close view of this work - not just to see it, but to be part of it - see the Group Volunteers information page. Space in western Kentucky is currently available for the weeks of May 12 and May 19. 

Special Offerings happen in lots of ways - THANK YOU, Disciples, for being there, for staying for the long haul, and for giving of yourselves with creativity and joy, making a lasting impact for the sake of compassion and the gospel.

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