Faith organizations have a complex relationship to disaster relief

On the second weekend after Hurricane Helene, Swannanoa Christian Church held its first Sunday service since the storm battered western North Carolina. The sanctuary was piled high with clothes, water, and food, so everyone gathered outdoors. Out in the yard, beneath a clear blue sky and uphill from devastation wrought by the flood, the congregation interspersed prayer with the testimonies of congregants who had pulled people from the water or been pulled from it themselves.

After the service...