Brooke Mannion/Florida Baptist Convention

PENSACOLA, Fla. – After incurring millions of dollars in damages to nearly every facility on the church property as a result of Hurricane Sally’s landfall in 2020, East Brent Baptist Church moved back into its worship center in 2022, only to experience tremendous water damage totaling more than $1.3 million just two years later.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – When Virgil Tillman, pastor emeritus at Springfield Baptist Church in Panama City, awoke in the Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital in Jacksonville, the last thing he remembered was carrying a bucket of ice to his daughter’s house. As Tillman approached the porch, he slipped and fell on the concrete, leaving him unconscious, with a broken nose, concussion and brain bleed. He required a repair of the C1 and C2 vertebrae, a steel plate inserted into the base of his skull and a fusion of C6 and C7 spinal segment. His recovery also required a tracheostomy that has not been able to be removed nearly two years later.

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – Like many churches in the path of Hurricane Milton, Tri-City Baptist Church in Punta Gorda was hit hard. On Friday, Oct. 11, the morning after the storm, volunteers from the church began dry-out efforts from storm flooding. By Sunday, they were feeling tired and weary.