West Virginia Conference United Methodists step up to comfort, help
Laura Allen, WVUM News
[Montcoal, W.Va.]The deaths of 29 miners in the worst U.S. mining disaster in 40 years have left a state in mourning and families struggling with how to pick up their lives and go on.

The Rev. Susan Rector, a United Methodist pastor in southern West Virginia, spent several days with the families in Montcoal as they waited to hear the fate of their loved ones.

“It’s about listening and being there,” she said in a phone interview from her home in Bluefield. “What is there to say in the face of their grief?” 

The explosion occurred around 3 p.m. April 5 at the Upper Big Branch coalmine in Raleigh County, W.Va. Initial reports from Massey Energy Co. indicated that seven miners were dead and 19 missing.  

By the next morning, two survivors had been confirmed, but the number killed had grown to 25. Four more miners remained unaccounted for until early morning on April 10 when they were confirmed dead, bringing the total lost to 29.

All week long families watched and waited, hoping that somehow four miners had survived the blast and made it to an underground refuge chamber.

Providing the chambers became a requirement for all underground mines in the U.S. after 12 miners were killed in a 2006 methane explosion at the Sago mine in West Virginia’s Upshur County. 

The shelters are designed to provide 15 people with 96 hours of breathable air, food and water, theoretically giving rescue workers time to reach miners trapped after a disaster. 

Rescue and recovery workers had to leave the mine three times because methane levels were considered unsafe. As family members waited outside, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said there was a “sliver of hope” for the four missing miners.   

Ms. Rector said people sat and talked about their loved ones telling the kind of stories you tell at family gatherings. 

“You know, those stories your family knows about you, stories that make you laugh, stories that bring you together,” she said. As they waited, she said the sense of connection and relationship deepened. 

Six other United Methodist pastors also spent time in Montcoal with the families the week of the explosion. One of the miners killed had attended John Stewart United Methodist Church in Bluefield, W.Va. The aunt and uncle of another lost miner attend Ms. Rector’s church, Trinity United Methodist, also in Bluefield.

The United Methodist Church has the largest membership of any protestant denominations in West Virginia. Although there are no United Methodist churches in the immediate vicinity of the Upper Big Branch mine, the denomination takes seriously John Wesley’s philosophy of “the world is my parish.” 

“West Virginians are all ‘our people,’ whether they are United Methodist or not,” said Bill Wilson, director of connectional ministries and assistant to the bishop for the West Virginia Conference. 

Dr. Wilson was on the phone early the day after the explosion, coordinating the United Methodist response with the West Virginia Council of Churches and the United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia. The organizations worked together to establish the Montcoal Mine Disaster Fund.

“The council of churches approached us, and asked if we could provide a ministry of administration,” said Jeff Taylor, the foundation’s president. 

The foundation will receive, acknowledge and thank donors for their gifts, which will be divided among the family members of the 29 miners who died and the two who survived. It will provide these services at no cost to the council of churches. 

Gov. Manchin expressed his support for the fund for family members in an April 10 statement: “I appreciate the West Virginia Council of Churches and their efforts to assist these grieving families.”

The fund got a big boost on April 12 when the West Virginia Radio Corporation asked for donations on stations around the state—in Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, Clarksburg and Elkins. People were able to drive up to the stations and drop off checks and cash for the fund.

Several United Methodists volunteered to answer phones and process gifts at the council of churches offices in Charleston. So far, more than $17,000 in credit-card donations has been raised for the fund. 

While the special fund drive aired on radio stations across the state, families and a crowd of several hundred attended a memorial service on the grounds of the State Capitol in Charleston. The service took place one week to the hour after the explosion. 

After the Liberty Bell tolled once for each of the 29 miners lost, the Rev. Dennis Sparks, director of the council of churches, told those gathered, “We come knowing that in our moments of silence the cries of the wailing widow and mother and family and friends will forever ring within us.”

The service took place beneath the Coal Miner Memorial statue, where wreaths were laid in honor of the miners. Family members wept quietly, joining hands and saying the Lord’s Prayer. Several people in the crowd dabbed their eyes as a lone bagpiper played a tribute to the miners.

“We are hopeful, resilient people of faith,” said Ms. Rector. “We will move forward together.”

8:30 a.m. April 10, 2010
29 miners are confirmed dead after Monday's explosion near Montcoal, W.Va.  Four miners who had been unaccounted for were found by resuce workers late last night.  The Montcoal Disaster Relief Fund has been establshed by The West Virginia Council of Churches to assist the families of the miners killed this week.  Visit wvcc.org for information and to make a donation.

6:30 a.m. April 8, 2010
Bishop Lyght is updating his blog regularly with prayers for the miners and families as the situation in Montcoal changes:  "May the families of the deceased miners experience this hope in the midst of their sorrow. Let the families of the missing miners know that you are with them," he wrote.  Read the prayer here.

11:20 a.m. April 7, 2010
The latest on the United Methodist response is available at wvumc.org/miners.

6:30 a.m. April 6, 2010
25 miners are now confirmed dead after yesterday's explosion at a coal mine operation in Montcoal, W.Va. near Whitesville in Raleigh County.  Two miners survived the blast as the rode a vehicle out of the site during a shift change. 

4 miners remain unaccounted for, but rescue efforts have been suspended due to high levels of toxic gas in the mine.

Please keep the miners and their families in prayer.

9:30 p.m. April 5, 2010
7 miners are confirmed dead and 19 remain missing after an explosion at Massey Energy’s Performance Coal Co. Upper Big Branch Mine-South near Whitesville, W.Va. in Raleigh County.  An injured miner is in intensive care at Charleston Area Medical Center says spokeswoman Elizabeth Pellegrin. Bishop Ernest S. Lyght issued this statement of prayer for the miners and their families:

“God of all creation, we are distressed by the news of a mine explosion in the Southern coalfields of West Virginia. Please surround us with a sense of calm in the midst of our distress. We ask that your Holy presence might bring comfort to all the families touched by this incident, especially the families of those miners who lost their life in the explosion. We ask that your healing presence might tarry with those miners who have been injured, so that healing might abound. We pray for the safety of those miners who are yet unaccounted for in this mishap. Place your arms of protection around them and the members of the rescue teams that have been deployed to the scene. God of grace, we pray for the safety of all miners, around the world, who work to provide vital resources for humankind. We pray in the name of Jesus, our Risen Lord and Savior. Amen.”

Lyght is resident Bishop of the West Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church.  CNN offers continuing coverage of events as they unfold.