Community comes together to reconstruct church in Erwin

Sitting on the end of Temple Hill Road in Erwin, Tennessee is Riverview Baptist Church. The church sits on the bank of the Nolichucky River, which rose to record levels and consumed parts of Unicoi County in late September.....Read Full Article>>

The church was overtaken with water. Church leaders said they weren’t sure if the building would still be standing when the water receded.

“You knew you were going to see something, but you just weren’t sure what,” said David Brown, who serves as the pastor for Riverview.

“The day before I had stood across the riverbank kind of watching the church for several hours,” said Jeff Simmons, who serves as a church deacon. “I didn’t know when I got out the next day if the church was still going to be standing that evening.”

To the surprise of many, the church survived the flooding but not without significant damage.

“Me and one of the other deacons got over there after the water receded,” Simmons said. “And when we walked in, it was just a disaster, really. A lot of debris in the church and the sanctuary. There was about a foot of mud throughout the whole sanctuary.”

Simmons said they let the community know that the church has survived.

“When we got in the church, we rang that bell for a long time,” said Simmons. “Just let everybody know we’re still standing.”

Once the water was gone, work on the building began. Simmons started the work on his own but wasn’t alone before long.

“Within just a few minutes, there was several guys in here with chainsaws,” said Simmons. “By the end of the day, by about ten o’clock, we had several pieces of equipment on the ground. We had excavators, skid steers. We had a guy with a bulldozer. About 40 to 50 volunteers here throughout the day.”

Simmons said the volunteers helped clear almost all of the mud in the church both within and outside of the church.

“I’ve had a lot of people that’s come and donated their time that don’t normally attend church anywhere,” said Simmons. “But they just want to help. They see we need help, and they’re here to help.”

Behind the church sits a foundation that used to house the church’s fellowship hall, which was swept away during the flood. But Simmons said that loss wasn’t detrimental.

“No one lost their life in the flood in this congregation,” Simmons said. “Nobody lost a home or had any personal damages or lost a loved one. So the church is fine. Our building took a hit, but we will put it back together. It’s just a building.”

Although the church is working on its own needs, members hope the community knows that they’re still standing with them.

“We just want to be there for people,” said Brown. “Wherever they’re at, hurt, pain, anger, sadness. We just want to help people to be able to get through this time.”