‘We Have To Stick Together’: North Nashville Church Unites Community After Tornado

There hasn’t been much time for reflection since powerful tornados blew through Middle Tennessee last week. First responders, electricians and volunteers have been working around the clock to restore some sense of normalcy.

But on Sunday morning, one church in North Nashville paused for a few hours of gratitude.

Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church doesn’t normally have its Sunday morning services outside.

But just days after a tornado swept through North Nashville, a blue tarp hangs where the church’s roof used to be. The sanctuary has no power. And it’s filled to the brim with donations.

There’s hardly room to maneuver through the food, clothing and household supplies, let alone hold a service. So instead, a few dozen people are sitting in purple chairs on the front lawn.

“During all the things that are occurring right now, we all have stopped and had the ‘woe is me’ moment. And we’re kind of getting stagnant,” said Stacy Campbell, also known as the church’s first lady. Her husband, Marcus Campbell, is the bishop.

To one side of her, a fleet of trucks is working on a row of downed power lines. To the other side, a heaping pile of wood and debris reaches several feet high. But Campbell’s not focused on the destruction that surrounds her.

“We’ve been blessed at this spot, at this building, to be the hub for North Nashville. One of them,” she says. “And, as you see around us, it’s not enough room inside of that building to store the blessings that everyone has come in to give.”

Since the tornado hit, this church and many others have served as a centering force for the community. They’ve gathered donations, mobilized volunteers and distributed meals to those in need.

“This is family. This is home for me,” said King Antonio. He grew up nearby in North Nashville and is a longtime member of the church. “You know, actually, I haven’t been here in a couple months. But after this situation happened, I’m like, ‘It’s time to go home. We gotta rebuild. We gotta do whatever it takes.'”

Antonio says he’s been overwhelmed by the support that’s poured into his community in the past few days.

Samantha Max WPLN

Outreach Director Shawn Bradley sorts through piles of donations in the sanctuary of Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in North Nashville.

“This is truly ‘The Volunteer State.’ Truly, truly,” he says. “I mean, you’ve got people that are just walking up, just, ‘What can I do?’ You know, ‘I got a rake. I got a chainsaw. Can I cut something down for you? Do you need some, you know, do you need food?’ Donations are coming left and right.”

Antonio is soaking in this moment.

“The people are the blessing, you know. The love that we show towards each other. But this situation has created people to step up in a light that I haven’t seen,” he says, bursting into a smile. “I’m enjoying it. I’m, like, getting hyped off of it, you know what I’m saying?”

North Nashville was already struggling long before the storm hit, says Minister Ty Perkins. It’s been hard for him to see the neighborhood he grew up in ripped apart.

But Perkins said this tornado happened for a reason. He hopes it will spur investment in the community.

“Trials bring people together,” Perkins says. “It’s just, it’s a blessing. And what I believe is gonna — the outcome of this is gonna be is that it gives hope to the people that live in the neighborhood. And what’s gonna happen is that people gonna see that people do care, and what we wanna do is give hope. That’s what the church is for, is to give hope, is to let people know that someone do care and someone is looking to help you make change in your neighborhood.”

Perkins says people from across Nashville have to come together to help the community grow.

Samantha Max WPLN

Congregants of Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church huddle together in prayer days after a tornado blew through Middle Tennessee.

But he doesn’t want volunteers to swoop in for a few days, only to forget about North Nashville when they go back to their regular routines.

“We are Nashvillians,” Perkins says. And I hope that this is a message to Nashville to let them know that, man, in our day-to-day lives, after we clean up the houses, after we get through getting the neighborhoods back, the power’s been restored, people get back into their daily lives, that we use this as an eye opener to let people know that we have to stick together.”

And that work will continue this afternoon.

But first, this congregation is taking some time for prayer. After a harmony of “Amen,” Stacy Campbell offers one final blessing.

“Hug everybody,” she says. “Tell ’em you love ’em and ain’t nothing you can do about it.”

Suddenly, everyone is embracing. And for a few moments, no one minds that they’re outside their roofless church, surrounded by the rubble. They know they’ll rebuild.

Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member.