She pastored Raleigh churches and served as the district’s Superintendent prior to being elected to the episcopacy.  She and her husband Mike are native North Carolinians and are much beloved by this district.  We believe this is a natural relationship. 

       Bishop Ward and North Carolina Bishop Alfred Gwinn devised a plan for a working partnership between our two conferences.    They determined that each district in North Carolina would be partnered with a specific United Methodist church in Mississippi.   The two churches will develop a relationship that will be developed over the years.  We in North Carolina will provide work teams, emotional and spiritual support, some financial support, and material goods as possible.  We will walk alongside our brothers and sisters on the gulf coast to rebuild their lives and homes, and we vow to stay with the effort until it is complete.

       The Raleigh District is blessed to partner with Heritage UMC in D’Iberville, MS, a city near Biloxi.  While not directly on the coast, D’Iberville is just north of the Back Gulf Bay and sits 15 feet above sea level.  The epicenter of the 30 foot wave that came from the gulf crashed ashore in D’Iberville, destroying homes and businesses, but not the spirit of the people.  This community is comprised of a hardy bunch of community-minded people who are determined to rebuild their homes and their lives.  They are primarily blue collar workers with the majority making their living from fishing, the gaming industry, and the air force base (which was virtually destroyed).   

       Heritage is pastored by Rev. David Cumbest, a 1995 Duke Divinity School graduate.   Heritage had an average weekly attendance of between 175-200 people “pre-K” (David’s term for pre-Katrina).  Half of those people have been displaced and many have not returned.  Within just hours of the storm, David flung wide the doors of the church to send out his congregation to help and to invite him the community which needed help.  Within a week Heritage was distributing food, supplies and clothing to 1500 people; housing and feeding dozens of volunteers; and operating a medical clinic.  There were so many people in the community seeking help to repair or muck out homes, that David organized a system.   People complete a form stating the specific needs they have, their name and address, and David dispatches teams to fill the requests, without regard for denomination, race, or social status.                                                                                        contd.