September (Web-only) 2005

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Mike Hogg is pastor of Canal Street Presbyterian Church, located in New Orleans's Mid City neighborhood. Nearly everyone in the church fled the city before Hurricane Katrina hit last week, and now Hogg is pastoring his scattered church members over the telephone and the internet from Houston. Knowing that it may be a long time before they are able to return to what is left of their homes and church, Hogg is helping to arrange for his congregation's immediate needs while he and his family move temporarily to Arizona. Meanwhile, radio host Hugh Hewitt, popular blogging pastor Mark D. Roberts, and others have singled out Canal Street Presbyterian in their recommendations for giving.

Do you know what condition the church is in?

No, we haven't seen it. We have seen parts of the neighborhood, and the water levels seem to be different on some streets. We're thinking we had a lot of moving water for a long period of time. The worst, I think, is that it could be covering the first floor of church. It is an old brick church. It's been there 150 years. I think the building survived, but we could have water covering the first floor.

Most people haven't seen their houses. My wife and kids and I moved into the neighborhood, called Mid City, where the church is on Canal Street, and we haven't seen clear pictures. We don't even know if our house is there.

You left before the hurricane hit?

Yes, most people did. People are used to doing that. The weird part about this is everybody fled thinking This doesn't look very good, but we don't have time to do a whole lot. Katrina came off the Florida coast as a level one and developed off Florida quickly. They recommended 72 hours to get out of the city, but it was really only 48 hours before people ...