Trustees plan to start rebuilding Gulfside center

Translate Page

Hurricane Katrina washed away the United Methodist Church's historic Gulfside Assembly retreat center Aug. 29, but plans are in the works to bring the center back to life.

"We will rebuild," said Mollie M. Stewart, president of the Gulfside Board of Trustees. A committee headed by the Rev. Earl Bledsoe will look at rebuilding and determining what programs are needed now and for the future.

"Previously we were always challenged to build around how a new structure would look in relation to the other buildings," Stewart said. "We don't have that challenge now. We can determine for the future what Gulfside needs to look like."

Gulfside Director Marian Martin, who lost everything in the storm, has relocated to an office in Atlanta. The office is on the campus of Gammon Theological Seminary.

The board of trustees, meeting Oct. 13-14 in Atlanta, also voted to pay down the center's debt and work to establish a relationship with Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The board wants to strike a relationship with FEMA to have proceeds coming in but also to act as a missional agency in the community for people to live, Stewart said.

The board voted to pay three months' salary to the 10 employees who were at Gulfside before the storm hit.

The hurricane's financial impact on Gulfside is not known yet. "We're still working with the insurance companies," Stewart said. All of the assembly's 14 buildings were lost. One of them, a residential building that was left standing, will have to be demolished because of damage from water and two trees that fell through the ceiling, she said.

A lot of clearing is needed, but all the staff and board members came through the storm all right. "Everyone had some damage, but no one was lost," Stewart said. "Everyone is in the recovery stage."

A Gulfside Recovery Fund has been set up, and all the board members are looking for fund-raising opportunities, she said.

"Insurance won't replace Gulfside in total."

Bishop Robert E. Jones founded Gulfside in 1923 as a residential school for African-American boys living in rural areas of the United States. The center became a popular vacation and meeting spot during racial segregation in the South. When the United Methodist Church integrated in the late 1960s, the retreat center declined in usage but still hosted meetings and conferences.

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]


Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.

Sign up for our newsletter!

UMNEWS-SUBSCRIPTION
Disaster Relief
Cedar Key United Methodist Church, located near where Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, is experiencing flooding for the first time in its history because of the record storm surge. Members are scrambling to remove carpeting and linoleum to allow the floor to dry out properly. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Robin Jocelyn.

United Methodists begin Idalia recovery

After the monster storm roared onto land, United Methodists in the U.S. Southeast were assessing the damage and responding to immediate needs. Church members from neighboring states also were quick to offer a helping hand.
Disaster Relief
United Methodist pastors and disaster management team leaders evaluate a rainwater-harvesting tank that was installed a month earlier in the Novele community in the Davao Area of the Philippines. The United Methodist Church distributed the drums to more than 30 households and three community centers in the region. Pictured (from left to right) are the Rev. Marlyn N. Nabatilan, an unnamed neighbor, recipient Janeth Erandio, the Rev. Jerson Sanggo and team leaders Eddie Danglapen, Fe Tomas and Maurice Bigaran. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Dan Reuben L. Sison.

Water project improves lives in the Philippines

Davao Area Disaster Management Office disaster management team distributes drums to harvest rainwater to more than 30 families and three community centers in neighborhoods that don’t have a reliable source for clean water.
Disaster Relief
Judy Cramer’s family home, before and after the devastating wildfires in Lahaina, on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Cramer lives now on Oahu, in the community of Kaneohe, where she attends Parker United Methodist Church. But she grew up in Lahaina and she and her brother were visiting in the family home when the Aug. 8 fires forced them to evacuate. Photos courtesy of Judy Cramer.

United Methodist connection at work for Maui

Churches, conferences are giving generously in relief of the Hawaiian island devastated by wildfires.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2023 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved