ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 2, 2005

Lutherans, Episcopalians Aid Survivors of Hurricane Katrina
05-162-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans and Episcopalians together will
take on the task of providing food for tens of thousands of
people who have escaped Hurricane Katrina, according to Heather
L. Feltman, director for Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS).  About 23,000 people, who
have taken refuge at the Superdome in New Orleans since Aug. 28,
attempted to move Sept. 1 to the Houston Astrodome.
     "The Red Cross does not have the capacity" to provide food
for people in the Astrodome this month, and "it has asked faith
communities for help," said Feltman.  "In the fourth week of
September, Lutherans and Episcopalians together will work to
provide food" for people in the Astrodome.
     "It will take $1 million to feed people for one week," said
Feltman.  "We are committed to seeing that this happens.
Volunteers from the Lutheran church and the Episcopal Church will
be needed," she said.
     The ELCA entered into a "full communion" relationship with
the Episcopal Church in 2001.  Both churches engage in a variety
of shared ministries, including the exchange of clergy under
certain circumstances.

Lutheran Disaster Response and ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
     Saving human life continues to be priority as search and
rescue efforts continue, after Hurricane Katrina caused massive
destruction in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, said
Feltman.
     "Lutheran Disaster Response is waiting for permission to
enter disaster areas, but it is working with local partners to
provide immediate" assistance to people "displaced from their
homes, communities and work," she said.
     Lutheran Disaster Response is also "ready to deploy
emotional and spiritual care for people in affected areas, once
we receive word that it is safe to do so," she said.
     "As in past disasters, the ELCA's response to Hurricane
Katrina will include spiritual and emotional counseling, care for
caregivers, volunteer support for debris removal and, eventually,
home rebuilding," said Feltman, who also serves as director for
ELCA Domestic Disaster Response.
     "The sense of loss and grief is overwhelming," Feltman said,
adding "thanks to God for the generous response this country has
shown for people impacted by this catastrophic storm."
     In response to "immediate needs, hardship grants are
available to ELCA and other community members who have been
displaced and need assistance with emergency expenses such as
temporary housing, child care, special medical equipment or
health care needs," she said.
     "Volunteers will be available to help survivors navigate and
access the resources available to them as they rebuild their
homes and lives," Feltman said.
     "Hurricane Katrina has damaged many churches and many
churches are under water," said Feltman.  "As soon as flood
waters recede, we will have a better assessment of what the
overall status is," she said.

ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod
     "No one knows the full status of homes and (ELCA) churches"
located in southern Louisiana, according to the Rev. Paul J.
Blom, bishop of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod,
Houston.
     The synod is made up of 130 congregations, with 19
congregations in Louisiana.  As many as 10 congregations in
Louisiana may have sustained damage from wind and flood produced
by the hurricane.  Several church buildings "are probably under
water, but we just don't know," said Blom.
     Christ the King Lutheran Church, Kenner, La., is under
somewhere between five and eight feet of water, said Blom.
Aerial pictures taken by helicopter show only flood water,
rooftops of houses and the rooftop of a shopping center in
Kenner, he said.
     "To our knowledge St. Mark Lutheran Church, Metairie, La.,
did not suffer from flooding," he said.
     As water levels rose in New Orleans, some generators stopped
working because the water was too high.  The water may be
"contaminated with diesel fuel, sewage, snakes and other
critters," Blom said.
     Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Chalmette, La., and Grace
Lutheran Church, New Orleans, are definitely under water, he
said.  Bethlehem Lutheran Church, New Orleans, may have flood
damage, and Peace Lutheran Church, Slidell, La., may have
sustained wind damage, Blom said.
     Congregations in the "west bank" of the Mississippi River in
Louisiana may not be flooded but may have sustained damage from
hurricane winds, Blom said.
     Lutheran Church of Our Savior, Baton Rouge, La., and St.
Paul Lutheran Church, Baton Rouge, have not sustained damage and
may serve as "staging areas" to provide emergency services to
congregations affected by the hurricane, said Blom.
     Many ELCA pastors from the New Orleans area have taken
refuge in Houston, he said.  "My biggest concern is care for our
pastors and associates in ministry who will have no homes, no
congregations and no paychecks, since everything is shut down or
destroyed," Blom said.
     "I'm asking congregations, particularly from the Texas-side
of the synod as well as across the church, to support and/or
sponsor families and pastors who need help.  We need to keep the
Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod operational and help people who
need help by maintaining a stream of funds to purchase food and
keep our leaders and members healthy," he said.

ELCA Southeastern Synod
     The Rev. Ronald B. Warren, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern
Synod, Atlanta, and staff of Lutheran Disaster Response are
preparing to visit Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2 "to set up a staging
area to receive emergency supplies" for survivors of Hurricane
Katrina, said Elaine S. Schwartz, director for communication
resources, ELCA Southeastern Synod.
     Warren and others will be visiting congregations in Alabama
and Mississippi, and will survey hurricane-devastated communities
in both states, said Schwartz.  They "will visit Christus Victor,
Ocean Springs, Miss., which is housing more than 30 people
displaced by the storm," Schwartz said.  The church has
significant damage to its administrative building, but it is able
to provide shelter to many of its members who are now without
homes, she said.  The church "has a generator and gas for
cooking, but gasoline used to run the generator is running out."
     Grace Lutheran Church, Gulf Shores, Ala., sustained minimal
damage, she said.  Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Daphne, Ala., is
"okay" and "cleaning up," said Schwartz.
     Grace Lutheran Church, Long Beach, Miss., is providing
shelter for about 30 members of the congregation.  "The church
sustained damage but is able to provide shelter.  Windows were
not broken, but water came in," she said.
     "The four states of the ELCA Southeastern Synod" -- Alabama,
Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee -- "have suffered damage from
Hurricane Katrina.  There is a great need for congregations (of
the synod) to develop teams of people willing to help (survivors)
by going to disaster locations as work crews and raising funds
for Lutheran Disaster Response," said Bob Tribble, coordinator
for the ELCA Southeastern Synod, Lutheran Disaster Response.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
     Thrivent Financial for Lutherans -- a Minneapolis-based, not-
for-profit financial services organization serving the ELCA and
other Lutheran church bodies -- has initiated a gift supplement
program for members of Thrivent who want to support hurricane
relief and recovery efforts.
     The program could result in collecting more than $3 million
to support survivors of Hurricane Katrina.  Thrivent will provide
one dollar for every two dollars donated by Thrivent members to
Lutheran Disaster Response, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, LCMS
World Relief/Human Care and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran
Synod Committee on Relief.  These organizations will distribute
funds to people in need of assistance using their established
processes.
- - -
DOMESTIC DISASTERS:

Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds to aid
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,
Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via Internet:
http://www.ELCA.org/scriptlib/dcm/giving/ddisaster.asp

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news