In fall 2005, East Bayou Baptist Church (EBBC) found itself in the middle of the second largest town in the state of Louisiana. EBBC, however, isn’t in New Orleans or Baton Rouge; it’s in Lafayette, La., a city directly between the areas hardest hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“As a purpose driven church, we were able to respond quickly,” said Ron Robison, associate pastor of East Bayou Baptist. “We don’t have committees and such to [slow] down the process.

“We’re able to just act.”

Quick response became paramount as hurricane evacuees flooded the city from destroyed areas. Luckily, East Bayou underwent a major functional change more than a dozen years ago that equipped the church to meet multiple immediate needs.

East Bayou began its ministry more than 35 years ago, but a total redesign in structure and function 14 years ago made the church the prospering, effective ministry it is today.

“It doesn’t matter what church you are,” Robison said, “you have to understand your DNA, and that’s what the Purpose Driven model is.”

Part of understanding your DNA, Robison said, is knowing what the church’s members and facilities are capable of and willing to support. When it came time to decide how to assist with hurricane relief and meet the needs of evacuees pouring into town, East Bayou had some specific and specialized capacities.

Wayne Myrick, a church developer based in Birmingham, Ala., helped design the new facility East Bayou first occupied two years ago. He said the church’s design reflects its Purpose Driven model with an open, multi-functional facility.

“The simplicity of the facility is unique,” Myrick said. “It’s not ornamental, but functional. The building is a multipurpose facility usable for lots of different things.”

While Robison agreed the church’s space offers much flexibility, he said the building was clearly better suited to house volunteers and organizations that arrived to offer relief than it was to shelter evacuees.

East Bayou does not have shower facilities or other elements necessary to housing displaced individuals for long periods of time, but when the Louisiana Baptist Convention contacted East Bayou about accommodating 98 volunteers and eight tractor trailers, the church was more than willing to open its doors.

The church eventually became a hub for the Red Cross and helped serve anywhere from 8,000 to 12,000 meals a day from an onsite mobile kitchen.

“[Not having facilities to house evacuees] was God’s way of working out that Rita was coming,” Robison said. “We were available to help with that effort in ways other churches still serving Katrina evacuees weren’t able to do.”

Prior to the tragedy of the hurricanes, East Bayou completed the 40 Days of Community campaign during which members became familiar with anchor groups and how best to positively affect the community around them.

“40 Days of Community was a vehicle on which we were able to capitalize because we did some things on a smaller scale that prepared us to just go do it when Katrina and Rita hit,” Robison said, adding that the church was able to continue responding to the community in spite of the minor damage it received during Hurricane Rita.

Besides the immediate impact of helping those in need, EBBC has seen residual benefits from its involvement in hurricane relief.

“I believe it has made our church healthier,” Robison said. “Evacuees needed a church home. We increased by 500 attendees one Sunday. Not many churches could handle that type of change.

“Long term, the hurricanes are factoring into our growth.”

East Bayou averages about 1,900 total attendees in its three worship services. That’s about 700 more than it was just two years ago. Mike Walker, the senior pastor for the past 23 years, has seen it through to this newest and most exciting phase of growth.

As the church continues its ministry, Robison said he sees East Bayou continuing to build upon the solid functionality and effectiveness the Purpose Driven structure has created.

“The Purpose Driven model allows you to go from program-driven to purpose driven to individual-driven, which is where we are now,” Robison said.

When the church restructured 14 years ago, the goal was to “do something different” in the southern Louisiana Christian community. East Bayou uses the four points of a compass to symbolize the goal of “orienting toward the cross.”

Robison said the objective is simply to create relationships with God and people. He said East Bayou sill continues seeing ways to do that because the members clearly understand their church’s DNA and can therefore be an effective Christian example within the “Cajun-Catholic, Mardi Gras” culture surrounding the ministry.

“We understand our DNA as a church,” Robison explained. “We understand who we are as a congregation and what we do best.”

All 2006 Church Health Award winner information is correct as of Jan. 1, 2006.