On Sunday, worshippers returned to Biltmore Church, a megachurch in Asheville, N.C., for the first time in person after Hurricane Helene hit. It was bittersweet, said Bruce Frank, the church’s pastor. People were glad to be together, even as many are still grieving. “There is a lot of loss,” Frank said.
Among the lost were Nora and Michael Drye, lay leaders at Biltmore, and their grandson, Micah, 7, who became trapped on their roof and drowned in floodwaters. Others in the church had lost loved ones, homes and their livelihoods.
Church members have rallied to support those affected, offering their parking lot to disaster relief groups and state workers and organizing drive-by centers where people can pick up water, ice, diapers and food for those affected by the disaster, said Frank…