David Brown: One Man’s Story of Hope Amidst Destruction
- Claire Perkins
- Mar 7
- 4 min read
ERWIN, Tenn., February 2025 — Along the Nolichucky River, in the nook where Temple Hill Road meets Jackson Love Highway, is a church called Riverview Baptist. On Sept. 27, 2024, Pastor David Brown watched as water besieged his church, the late summer sun warming his back — a sensation like hearing laughter during a funeral.
Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 tropical cyclone, first made landfall in the Big Bend area of the Florida Gulf Coast on the evening of Sept. 26, 2024. Determined to be historical, Helene made its way to Appalachia, dumping torrents of rain on Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, causing record flooding in Erwin.
Erwin — a quiet mountain town tucked in the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee — is home to Clinchfield Railroad’s headquarters and, in the 19th century, was a hub of industrial activity. While the bustle has waned
significantly, all four miles of the town continue to thrive, boasting a charming main street and storybook southern homes.
The night Hurricane Helene hit East Tennessee, Brown sat at home telling his son how Weather Channel Meteorologist Jim Cantore held on to a road sign to keep from being blown away during his coverage of Hurricane Ian in September 2022. As they watched The Weather Channel, all they expected was heavy rain.
Brown, 44, grew up in Erwin, Tennessee, where his father served as a pastor. While he has followed in his father's footsteps, the kindly pastor with black-rimmed glasses and dark blonde hair did not always picture his life turning out that way.
"I left when I graduated high school," Brown said. He joined the U.S. Navy and vowed never to return to Erwin or step foot in a church again. "I was miserable inside because I was serving and worshipping my dad's God. He wasn't my personal God," Brown said.
On the night of his 19th birthday, Brown was stationed at the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington, trying to get as far away from his hometown as possible. "The Lord spoke to me that night," Brown said. "I realized I had a religion but didn't have a relationship."
Everything shifted for Brown after that moment. "God called me to preach," Brown said. "That's one of the things I said I wasn't going to do."
After serving in the Navy for four years and breaking off his engagement with his fiancée in Whidbey Island, Brown decided to move back to Tennessee. Still unwilling to return to Erwin, he moved to Johnson City, Tennessee instead. There, he met his wife and began a family.
Seven years ago, he returned to Erwin in a work capacity, taking the role of pastor at Riverview Baptist Church. "Back in the '80s, my dad pastored at Faith Baptist Church," Brown said. "I am less than a mile away from where he pastored."
Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 was a gloriously sunny day. On the other side of the river, across from the church, is a little blue house on a hill. Brown made the spot his lookout. The fading grass covering the hillside glimmered green and gold, heat rising from its roots in apologetic puffs.
The river surged, water cresting the bank, creeping onto the land and destroying homes like the tide does a morning's sandcastles. "You blink and the water is already up even more," Brown said.
The church was still standing, its roof barely visible above the angry Nolichucky waves. Brown sat down, weary from watching the river rise. "I didn't know what to do," he said. "It was an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness."
On the Monday after the storm, when the waters had receded, Deacon Jeff Simmons was the first to arrive at the church. Inside the sanctuary, the world had drastically changed. Thick mud carpeted the floors, making each step a battle. The pews stood at attention, their red cushioning glazed brown. A tree had swept in and busted the piano.
Among the rubble was a child-sized music stand. It had been used the previous Sunday as a temporary replacement for a broken one. Despite the destruction, the bubblegum-pink stand stood tall, proudly presenting a hymnal.
The book was open to hymns 572 and 573, "No Never Alone" and "Farther Along." The hymns promise that God will never leave his people alone and that one day, farther along, they will understand the why behind their suffering. Brown and Simmons said it was God's way of encouraging them. When they tried to use the music stand later, it did not stay up.
By 10 a.m. Monday morning, around 50 volunteers had already shown up to help. On day two of the clean-up, a man, who Brown and Simmons called an “angel,” appeared to help.
The man, who Brown and Simmons guessed was around 70 years old, said he was from Kansas and had seen Riverview’s sign in the background of a weather report. The man helped shovel mud out of the church for four days. When the mud was gone, he disappeared. He left without being seen or saying goodbye.
The restoration of the church has been nothing less than miraculous. From retired tradesmen volunteering free labor to a pizza delivery worker spontaneously donating all his tips, Brown has, piece by piece, received all he needed to rebuild his church.
Despite the strenuous work of trying to salvage the church building, Brown remains focused on the community. "It's not about the building," Brown said. "It's about trying to give people hope."
Brown connected the restoration of the church to all of life.
"When your life is in shambles, there's still hope. God is building something better, something new," Brown said.
"We want to keep that visual for people. Because if you can see that God is good in the physical, you can know that he is going to be good in the mental or emotional struggles you face, too."