Churches and other religious institutions may receive FEMA money to rebuild after hurricanes
The rain stopped, the winds died and the floodwaters receded, but the rebuilding process for the communities affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma has just begun.
Knowing there is a limited resource of relief funds, I do not envy the person who decides who gets aid and who does not. For someone, each home, business and school affected is not simply another distant statistic; it is an all too real, life-changing reality.
But when we are considering how these communities should be rebuilt, we must resist being overly practical and remember that a community is more than its infrastructure. A community is primarily the practices, lifestyle and relationships that make up a local group. Meaning a portion of the relief funds should be directed towards the organizations, such as churches, that fuel those functions.
Contrary to this assumption, as of this moment, houses of worship are not eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency relief funds. Thankfully, four Senate Republicans have introduced a bill that is expected to receive bipartisan support and allow religious institutions to receive federal relief to rebuild their churches.
Initially, the restriction was put in place to preserve the separation between church and state. However, rebuilding churches is different from establishing them. In this instance, the government is not going in and endorsing one religion over another. Instead, the funds would be restoring the religious landscape that existed before the disaster.
The spiritual support churches can provide in times of disaster is the most essential reason to aid recovering churches, but even from a practical, secular standpoint, the physical aid churches offer is crucial as well. USA Today wrote a story outlining the close relationship FEMA has with faith-based groups in coordinating relief efforts, making it ironic that if a disaster ever affected those religious groups FEMA relies on, they would most likely be ineligible to receive aid from FEMA.
While I believe it would be right for FEMA to allow houses of worship to receive funding, I would also like to believe churches should not feel dependent on government aid in order to provide relief.
The New Testament is filled with examples of the early church’s generosity. In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul said, “For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.”
These Christians were not giving out of guilt or obligation. They were not giving the bare minimum. They were giving abundantly of their own initiative, pleading to have the opportunity to meet the financial needs of others in the midst of what Paul described as a “severe test of affliction.”
Why should that not be the response of the American church today? In response to the effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, we should come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ with an overwhelming show of support. Not just through prayer, but through meeting the tangible needs they are facing.
I believe one of the marks of a true Christian is cheerful giving, which should result in the church meeting the needs of those hurting within the church. However, I also believe God may use the world to meet the needs of the church. Permitting churches to apply for federal aid allows that church to rebuild and continue its work of meeting the needs of those hurting within the world.