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Dear friends in Christ,

"Everything changed on September 11," Bishop Steve Bouman (Metropolitan New
York Synod) said yesterday.  "Everything changed on Easter, too.  The
mystery of Jesus' death and resurrection gives meaning to our lives in
these times."

I have just returned this afternoon from another three days in New York
City.  There Elaine Bryant (LDR associate director) and I have been in long
meetings and discussions fashioning the Lutheran Disaster Response (a
cooperative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) efforts to the September 11th terrorist
attacks.  I have compared these past weeks to "putting the chess pieces on
the board."  All the pieces, with their special gifts and moves, are being
put into place and ready to proceed.  There are a multitude of gifts our
church has to bring to this situation.  The present challenge is to place
those gifts in their proper settings, so good ministry can be done over the
next years.

President David Benke (Atlantic District) and Bishop Bouman had us meet
with a room full of Lutheran pastors, leaders in their local communities.
"People are experiencing trauma and stress, are being pushed toward
instability," one pastor told us.   One described how members are losing
jobs, closing restaurants and small businesses.  Another eloquently shared
that "the survivors' stories are like litanies that ring in our ears."
There is so much grief counseling, and school students are frightened and
traumatized.  Some pastors talked about students stranded after school
because their mother or father was no longer alive.  Several spoke of
Bengali and Dominican members who didn't go to school or work because they
were threatened.  One pastor, a fire chaplain on Long Island personally
knew many of the three hundred firefighters who died.  People are
overwhelmed with emotion and sadness.  "We are not 'moving on' here in New
York," Bishop Bouman wrote in a recent update.  "There are still bodies in
the ground downtown, there is tremendous pressure on caregivers and the
church as this tragedy continues to unfold."

But the church is responding as the church.  We are "Easter people,"
changed by Jesus' resurrection.  We do not come empty-handed to this
situation.  We remember that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  We sing,
"Neither life nor death shall ever From the Lord his children sever; Unto
them his grace he showeth, And their sorrows all he knoweth."  We pray,
"Grant to all who mourn a sure confidence in your loving care, that,
casting all their sorrow on you, they may know the consolation of your
love."

What has happened this week:

>   Anne Eissfeldt and Pastor Rick Armstrong, "God's Care in Time of
Crisis" staff, came from Florida to meet with the Lutheran schools staff to
prepare dealing with traumatized children.
>   Dr. Gary Harbaugh, LDR Caregiver, has been in direct contact with
Bishops, District Presidents, and pastors in the Washington DC, New Jersey,
and New York areas.
>   Anthony Harris, interim executive of Lutheran Social Services of
Metropolitan New York, has begun the monumental task of program
coordination among the variety of New York Lutheran institutions and
agencies.  LSS-MNY is already caring for children who were orphaned by this
disaster.
>   Scholarship funds will be made available for children whose parents
have lost employment, so they may continue as students in Lutheran schools.
>   Serge Castigliano, executive of Seafarers and International House, has
made that agency available to provide emergency lodging for persons
displaced by this disaster, as well as a chaplaincy staff for crisis
counseling and pastoral care.
>   Richard Eissfeldt, a former executive whose social ministry agency
responded to Hurricane Andrew in Florida, has made himself available as a
mentor to the new LDR-NY coordinator.
>  Internet resources continue to be added to the LDR websites to provide
materials for parishes and individuals across the country.
>   A consortium of Lutheran counselors is coordinating their skills to
provide appropriate and timely response.
>   A former comptroller of the Pfizer corporation has offered to help set
up financial tracking for the funds that will flow into this response.
Good stewardship of church donations is critical, both the tracking and the
usage.  Our Lutheran funds, we pray, will be substantial.  They will be
used carefully and appropriately.
>   Coordination of pulpit exchanges and providing places of respite is
being planned and will begin next week.
>   LDR ministries are being coordinated with those of our faith partners
through Church World Service.

There is more, but this is about as much as my tired brain can put together
this evening.  However, there is one more significant development.

>   The emphasis of the church's response is no longer focused on
"September 11 Attacks."  The church is now being the church for this time
and these places by offering comfort to the afflicted and by bringing
renewal to those whom God loves. "September 11 Attacks" will now be known
as "September 11: Comfort and Renew."

How can you help:

>   Do not collect or send material resources or donations.  They are not
being sought and should not be sent.  If specific needs arise, I will let
you know.
>   Pastors and counselors who want to help should call 773-380-2748 and
provide their information to Loraine Deon, Lutheran Services in America.
>   Do good ministry in your local setting.  Speak words of love to
frightened children and the frail elderly.  Demonstrate your support your
Muslim or Middle Eastern neighbors, who are not responsible for these
dreadful acts.  Console those who have lost friends, colleagues, family
members, loved ones.
>   Continue to pray God's comfort and strength for those who mourn, for
those who serve, for those who reach out in love to others.
>   Provide financial support for the emergency care and counseling, as the
long term response by your generous donations to

    ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response - "September 11: Comfort and Renew"
    PO Box 71764 Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
        Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
        Credit card gifts via the web: www.elca.org/disaster;

    LC-MS World Relief - "September 11: Comfort and Renew"
    P.O. Box 66861
    St. Louis, MO 63166-9810
        Credit card gift line: 1-888-930-4438.

100% of your designated contributions will be used in this response.

Yours in Christ,
Gil Furst

GILBERT B. FURST (written on Thu, Sep 27, 2001, at  8:54 pm)
Director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response (Division for Church in Society),
Lutheran Disaster Response (a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and LCMS)
8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago 60631   PHONE: 773-380-2822  FAX: 773-380-2493
Visit our website:  www.elca.org/dcs/disaster