ELCA NEWS SERVICE
September 1, 2006
Lutherans Planning to Remember Fifth Anniversary of September 11 Attacks
06-135-JB/KH*
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans will mark the 5th anniversary of
the September 11, 2001, terror attacks through worship and
special remembrances throughout the church.
The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the
Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and the crash of a plane controlled
by hijackers near Shanksville, in south-central Pennsylvania,
killed nearly 3,000 people and left thousands injured.
In the New York City area -- where leaders and members of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) worked together to respond
to people in need -- Lutherans will commemorate the fifth
anniversary with worship and reflections Sept. 8, at Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Manhattan.
The commemoration event is sponsored by Lutheran Disaster
Response of New York (LDRNY), a joint ministry of the ELCA
Metropolitan New York Synod and the LCMS Atlantic District.
Planned for Sept. 8, the event will include special music and
reflections by the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop, ELCA
Metropolitan New York Synod, and the Rev. David H. Benke,
president LCMS Atlantic District, according to an LDRNY news
release. Bouman is also president of LDRNY and Benke is vice
president.
LDRNY raised more than $13 million for Sept. 11 relief
and recovery, and it has provided funds to help thousands of
people and their families, the release said. It has worked in
cooperation with a variety of agencies, including Lutheran
Disaster Response (LDR), a joint churchwide and national ministry
of the ELCA and LCMS. Funds contributed to ELCA Domestic
Disaster Response and distributed through LDR totaled more than
$10.6 million for the September 11 disaster.
Heather L. Feltman, LDR director and director of ELCA
Domestic Disaster Response, Chicago, will attend the New York
events Sept. 8, representing the ELCA churchwide organization.
On Sept. 10, the "Lutheran family" will meet again at Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church for a public performance of Bach Vespers
in commemoration of the anniversary, Bouman said.
"This is a very significant time for us in New York," Bouman
said. "It's a reminder of what happened on that awful day, as
well as a testament to the work of God through individuals and
programs like LDRNY."
"LDRNY is a blessing that continues to touch the lives of
thousands of people in New York," Benke said.
Trinity Lutheran Church, Somerset, Pa., will host a program
Sept. 10 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks, and
will focus attention on the crash of United Airlines Flight 93. A
multimedia musical dramatization, "Reverence for Life," features
the words of Albert Schweitzer and the music of Johann Sebastian
Bach. The program is presented in cooperation with local Flight
93 committees.
"As we thought about the fifth anniversary of the Flight 93
tragedy, we considered what our church could provide as an
inspiration to the community rather than a memorial service,"
said Kim Rauch, choir director and organist, Trinity Lutheran
Church.
Offerings given at the program will be used for the Flight
93 National Memorial. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a
nonprofit financial services organization based in Minneapolis,
will provide matching funds.
Worship, prayer resources available on ELCA Web site
The ELCA Web site contains a series of resources that were
created or recommended by clergy from New York City, as well as
staff with the ELCA worship and Domestic Disaster Response teams
here at the churchwide office.
The resources are available at
http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/resources/06-08-25-sept11.asp on the
ELCA Web site. They include:
+ "Prayer Litany from '9/11,'" commissioned by St. Peter Lutheran
Church, New York
+ "Prayer of Lament," recommended by the Rev. Robert A. Rimbo,
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
+ "Sermon Starter," from Sept. 2006 Liturgical Press, "Homily
Helps," contributed by the Rev. Amandus J. Derr, St. Peter
Lutheran Church
+ "Scriptures and Sermon Starters," contributed by the Rev. Kevin
A. Massey, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
+ "Benediction and Sending," recommended by Derr
Additional worship resources for September 11 remembrances
are available from the ELCA Worship team at
http://www.ELCA.org/worship/liturgies/archive/911/index.html on
the ELCA Web site.
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Information about Lutheran Disaster Response-New York is at
http://www.ldrny.org/ on the Web.
Information about Lutheran Disaster Response, the joint
churchwide and national ministry of the ELCA and LCMS is at
http://www.ldr.org on the Web.
*Katherine R. Hinck is a senior journalism and religion major at
Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D. In 2006 she was an intern
with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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