Title: 200 ELCA Pastors to Go to New York April 6-7 to Show Solidarity
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 27, 2002

200 ELCA PASTORS TO GO TO NEW YORK APRIL 6-7 TO SHOW SOLIDARITY
02-064-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As many as 200 pastors of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America -- including at least 32 synod bishops --
will be in New York April 6-7 in a show of support for ELCA pastors,
congregations and ministries nearly seven months after the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11.  They will participate together in a special
worship service April 6, and the visiting pastors will preach in most
New York-area ELCA congregations April 7.
     The ELCA is organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop.
The ELCA has 10,816 congregations and 5.13 million members in the United
States and Caribbean.
     The ELCA Conference of Bishops and the ELCA Department for
Synodical Relations worked with the New York-area synods to help make
arrangements for what is known as "Solidarity Weekend," said the Rev.
Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod.
     A service of celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ will
held April 6, 4 p.m., at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, Manhattan,
according to a news release from the Metropolitan New York Synod. The
Rev. Carol S. Hendrix, bishop of the ELCA Lower Susquehanna Synod,
Harrisburg, Pa., will preside, and the Rev. Robert A. Rimbo, bishop of
the ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod, Detroit, will preach.  Other bishops
will serve in roles such as acolytes, ushers and lectors, Bouman said.
     About 140 of the Metropolitan New York Synod's 225 congregations
will host visiting ELCA pastors, Bouman said.  Some visiting pastors
will also preach in Connecticut and New Jersey congregations considered
to be suburban to New York, he said.
     The weekend will offer the New York-area congregations a chance to
thank partners throughout the ELCA, "who sustained us with prayers and
millions of dollars," Bouman said. ELCA members contributed nearly $7
million through Lutheran Disaster Response for the church's responses to
the terrorist attacks.
     The weekend will also provide the congregations a chance to share
stories with the visiting pastors about the continuing trauma for many
people in the area, he said.
     "For us, we are still very much in the middle of it," Bouman said.
"This will serve as a reminder for us and for others that we still need
ministry, attention and help."
     The idea for what became Solidarity Weekend was first suggested by
Bouman at last fall's meeting of the ELCA Conference of Bishops, an
advisory body to the church consisting of 65 synod bishops, ELCA
presiding bishop and ELCA secretary.  Many bishops supported the idea
that evolved into the April 6-7 events.
     "This is an opportunity for us to show our support in love and
prayer with congregations in New York," said the Rev. Donald J. McCoid,
bishop of the ELCA Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, Pittsburgh, and
chair of the Conference of Bishops.
     "It is wonderful that we can do this in the Easter season, when we
can say that death doesn't have the last word.  There is life," McCoid
said.
     There have been many individual efforts to provide assistance to
congregations, including respite for pastors in this and similar crises,
according to Bouman and McCoid.  But neither is aware of an organized
effort of this magnitude to provide such support in a single effort,
they said.
     "For our whole church to respond and go to New York together is
great," McCoid said, adding most of the ELCA's 65 synods will be
represented.
     Lutheran Disaster Response of New York has addressed the needs of
many people who have struggled since Sept. 11, according to the
Metropolitan New York Synod.  Counseling services and financial help
have been provided to hundreds of people who have no other emergency
funding available, said John J. Scibilia, coordinator of LDR.
-- -- --
DOMESTIC DISASTERS:

Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to survivors
of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S.
Virgin Islands, please include:

ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, IL  60694-1764
800-638-3522


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