June 6, 2011
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Beauty for ashes: Centre native sees church destroyed By ROY MITCHELL To comfort all who mourn ... To give them beauty for ashes … — ISAIAH 61:3-6 TUSCALOOSA — It was Easter Sunday. Catalyst Community Church had opened its doors for the first time. The pastor, Centre native Martin Houston, recalls that it was “a great service.” The small congregation sang “He's Alive.” Two people even made decisions of repentance and salvation. “We were off and running,” Houston says. “We were really excited.” Sadly, the building's first worship service would also be its last. Three days later, Houston's Tuscaloosa church was reduced to rubble in the wake of the historic tornado outbreak of April 27. Houston, who was in his south Tuscaloosa home at the time, recalls that unforgettable day. “We were watching for the storm like everyone else,” he says. “We had gotten into our safe room. Suddenly, it gets really loud and really windy. You could hear stuff hitting the roof. And then it was over. I go outside, and it looks peaceful.” Not realizing the full effect of the storm, Houston decided to head to a local hospital to visit a parishioner injured another storm that had passed through town earlier in the day. On the way there he encountered the devastating wake of the storm. “All of the sudden we see – your brain can't comprehend it,” he recalls. “Everything that you're used to seeing is gone. Everything was brown. There was no color. All I thought was 'How many people have died?' If someone had said at that moment that 500-600 people had died, it would not have shocked me.'” Shortly before seeing the carnage with his own eyes, Martin had gotten a text, “How's the church?” Spying the rubble that once was the heart of Tuscaloosa, he got his answer.
“From two blocks away I realized that I could see a building that used to be
blocked by my church,” he says. “I realized that it was gone.” Houston explains how local churches aided. “When a storm strikes, there are certain elements of a city that need to be ready to go in to action – the EMA, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and for clean-up you need garbage and environmental services,” Houston says. “Every one of those units in Tuscaloosa were either totally leveled or almost destroyed. They had no ability to respond. It was the church -- represented by many congregations -- that hit the street.” Houston continues: “When President Obama asked Tuscaloosa mayor Walt Maddox how the city responded so well after these departments having been crippled, the mayor, too, was quick to credit the church. As a unified effort, the church responded. We've seen blacks, whites, Baptists, Methodists, Pentocostal. It's beautiful to see. I think someone on ESPN said, 'The storm split the city in half, but Tuscaloosa has never been more united.' That is such a true statement, especially through the churches.” Houston is quite appreciative of other local congregations in his own church's time of need. “Our building is gone, but the church lives on,” he says. “I had four or five churches say, 'You can come worship with us. You can come use our facility.' All the offers were from different denominations.” Houston, who is African-American, points out that the offers were not only from varying denominations. They were from white pastors. The Catalyst Community Church took up an offer of First Wesleyan Church in Tuscaloosa. They now have a six-month agreement to use their facilities for worship. “During that time, we'll build our core,” Houston says. “We'll save our money. With the help of our own and the people we can begin to rebuild our immediate needs. We get the question a lot, 'What do you need?' The best way to help is financially.”
Those wishing to donate may go to www.martinhouston.org and click on, or
they can call Houston at 205-826-1381.
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