Alex Barfield, a campus minister at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church who graduated from the university with a bachelor’s degree in integrated marketing communications in 2023, noticed something particularly encouraging in the wake of Winter Storm Fern, which plowed through the Ole Miss and Oxford communities — people took care of each other more than ever before.
“One of my takeaways is how everyone is your neighbor in a disaster,” Barfield said. “We were all in it together. Oxford can have a big class divide sometimes, and it was evident in some ways in the storm. But in other ways, we were leveled. Rich and poor did not have power or water and needed help. It was really a chance to live the Gospel, to care for the least among us.”
For three church leaders in Oxford, the winter storm was not a community-crippling disaster. Instead, it was an opportunity for faith to shine through — a canvas on which church members could illustrate the selflessness, generosity and love that are so often emphasized within religious communities.
Senior pastor at The Orchard Church Eric George, pastor of students at First Baptist Church Louis Zinc and Barfield all shared insight into the ways their respective churches kept morale high over the past few frosty weeks.
Outreach efforts
Each pastor said that his or her church checked in with members via texts and phone calls. Barfield used GroupMe to ensure that her students were doing well. She herself lost power and had to stay with another family for a few days to keep warm; she used this time to her advantage.
“We went through our directory and mental contact lists to check on widows, elderly and vulnerable students,” Barfield said.
Barfield and other church members took food, water and other supplies to students in need, including one student who is a wheelchair user. Barfield and Father Robert Antony, one of the priests at St. John the Evangelist, traveled to shelters — including the Oxford Conference Center’s shelter, led by Micah Quin — and prayed with those present.
St. John the Evangelist was also active in repairing the physical wreckage of the storm.
“My co-worker Mike Critz and our priest Father Mark Shoffner helped to clear brush and trees at parishioners’ homes,” Barfield said. “They also worked to deliver generators to those in need — St. John’s members or otherwise. Several people we helped we had never met before.”
George, like Barfield, was impressed with his church members’ proactivity. Those with power hosted those without, even if they did not know each other.
“I’m proud of our people,” George said. “In addition to our pastors checking in with them, they continue to check in with and pray for each other. At The Orchard, we have several mid-week community groups. Members of these groups invited other community members and random strangers into their homes for hot meals, a bed and other necessities.”
Some of these houses, George mentioned, were pretty packed.
“I know of one home with 14 people!” George said.
Zinc said that First Baptist Church wasted no time in establishing a means for people to request help. In addition to reaching out over the phone, the church leaders hoped to coordinate a large-scale assistance effort, which took into account pressing issues as well as more minor, long-term needs.
“Our church immediately created an ice relief submission form on our website to begin the process of meeting needs for both our church members and the needs of Oxford and Lafayette County,” Zinc said. “This form helped us administratively organize the specifics and strategize meeting both urgent and non-urgent needs. Our men’s ministry team has really stepped up to consistently care for widows and urgent, physical needs.”
Scheduled events
Additionally, the churches scheduled events during which supplies could be distributed. Zinc noted that his church has received an overwhelming amount of offers to help those in need; to put these hands to work, the church organized “Serve Oxford Saturday” on Saturday, Feb. 7.
“By hosting Serve Oxford Saturday, we are able to welcome volunteers from a distance to our city and county for a one-day blitz of relief work,” Zinc said. “These volunteers can commit to a full day of service without the need to arrange for overnight stay and the logistics that accompany a longer stay.”
A post on First Baptist’s Instagram page stated that attendees performed light yard work and attended to other community needs.
The Orchard Oxford has hosted two events through which the needy can collect supplies. The first took place on Thursday, Jan. 29. George cited the assistance of satellite churches in neighboring areas as being crucial in providing these supplies, which include “bottled water, food, tarps, propane, diapers (and) ice.”
“We recognize that when the city declared a water shortage, getting water and food that required no prep was going to be necessary,” George said. “As part of a larger church family, we called on our friends at Orchard Tupelo and Orchard Fulton to bring us supplies. We couldn’t have done it without them. It was a blessing to serve (over) 300 families in our community.”
The Orchard Oxford hosted another giveaway on Friday, Feb. 6. This one was more steered toward helping families with young children; the church partnered with Magnolia Family Nutrition and the Oxford MS Making an Impact in the Lactation Community (MILC) League. Oxford MILC provided “infant and toddler supplies” according to a post by the League’s Facebook page.
Barfield said that Sierra Cannon, the president of the Parish Council Administration at St. John the Evangelist, led a giveaway of food, toiletries, water and clothes from Friday, Jan. 30, through Tuesday, Feb. 2. Cannon and the other volunteers helped assist those who were unable to leave their homes.
“St. John’s was a community donation center coordinating with the (LOU Second Responders Community Recovery and Care),” Barfield said. “It was a group of community leaders that came together to provide support to those in need. We would run deliveries to people. People could come and ‘shop’ for what they needed.”
Services
Worship is a vital aspect of every church. In the wake of the winter storm, churches were forced to cancel in-person services. Even on Sunday, Feb. 8 — two weeks following the storm — Zinc said First Baptist Oxford’s schedule was still quite limited, especially because the church lost one of its boiler systems. However, the church managed to fit in one in-person service.
“Our service schedule went from three Sunday services with two Sunday school hour options to one service on Sundays without Sunday school classes meeting,” Zinc said. “One of our boiler systems that heat our education space has to be replaced. So, much of our church campus is without heat.”
On Sunday, Jan. 26, St. John the Evangelist held a single service that only a few parishioners were able to attend. Still, Barfield believes that celebrating Mass was beneficial, even with a lower attendance.
“That Sunday, we reduced our services from three to only one for safety,” Barfield said. “The Catholic Mass is an efficacious prayer even if no one is in attendance, so we prayed for the storm and those affected. A few students were able to attend by walking over, including many of the track team women.”
Because The Orchard Oxford is part of a family of other Orchard churches in North Mississippi, the church was able to prepare for cancellations and go remote — which they already had experience doing due to the pandemic a few years ago.
“Doing ministry in the post-COVID era has prepared us more than we realize for Sunday-morning alterations,” George said. “The Orchard Oxford is part of a family of seven churches in North Mississippi. Every one of our pastors pre-recorded our sermons on Thursday before the storm in case we had to cancel on Sunday, Jan. 25.”
Zinc emphasized that Winter Storm Fern was an unwelcome, even catastrophic, disruption from normal life, but like Barfield and George, he was impressed with the way that church communities have taken charge during this time.
“The circumstances we have all faced through this storm have made us quite aware of how our routine can be brought to a halt,” Zinc said. “The effects of this disaster have left a noticeable, physical mark on our community, but the noticeable blessing is seeing churches from every denominational branch function in unity of service to others.”
Recovery is ongoing. George suspects that the community will still be in need of healing long after all the power lines are restored and heaters are repaired. Yet he believes that the churches, as they demonstrated during this time of strife, will continue to strive to build up the community of Oxford.
“I’m humble enough to realize that even after we get through this natural disaster, trauma will be heavy for many,” George said. “I pray that the church and counselors will continue to rally around our citizens of Oxford and Lafayette County, supporting them as they find the healing and wholeness that only the Lord can bring.”
