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Dear friends in Christ,
"The healing didn't begin on September 12th, said John Scibilia, LDR of New
York coordinator. "This disaster continues to unfold. It's like a
one-month hurricane in which the winds and the rains have never stopped.
With the anthrax scare, we continue to feel targeted."
Now, five weeks after the September 11th terrorist events, the whole church
continues to provide creative ministry responses to those directly impacted
that day. Elaine Bryant (LDR associate director) and I have just completed
several days of meetings and conversations with people "on the ground"
through which Lutheran Disaster Response (a cooperative ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod) is responding in the wake of those events.
Here is an update on some of the specific ministries taking place:
>> Anna Eissfeldt and Pastor Rick Armstrong, "God's Care in Time of Crisis"
staff, continue to be present at work through the Lutheran school systems.
As I reported earlier, there are 21,000 students in 212 Lutheran schools,
of which 140 schools were directly impacted. Today they are in Staten
Island. Tomorrow they will be leading a parent's workshop in southeast
Brooklyn. They are supporting school staff, who still need to tell their
students "your parent is dead." Needs change from day to day. There will
be a conference for 300-400 Lutheran teachers in two weeks. Three
workshops will be provided that include individual and group counseling.
Ten local counselors will be trained to work on the scene. Similar plans
are being developed for Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia.
>> John Scibilia, LDR-NY Coordinator, is working with President David Benke
(LCMS Atlantic District) and Bishop Stephen Bouman (ELCA Metro New York
Synod) as the stresses of on-going ministries are addressed. John reports
that Lutheran Social Services of Metropolitan New York has seen an amazing
increased demand on food pantries. A case management system is being
structured to begin intake of needs and provide referral to resources.
Care for orphaned children continues. Lutheran Counseling Center is
receiving 100 calls per day for help. Their waiting area is jammed with
people off the street seeking help in their shock, fear, and grief.
>> Don Steiger, director for ELCA Specialized Pastoral Care, reports that
several chaplains were among the first responders. Trauma ministry centers
were established at two major hospitals. Lutheran chaplains are
ministering to those standing in long lines to report missing loved ones.
Some work with police chaplain response teams. Others work with distraught
family members, or are assisting at the temporary morgue, or with the
American Red Cross. Chaplain Vern Felsner of Tacoma, Washington, tells of
accompanying New Jersey family members on ferry boats to the World Trade
Center site, being with them as they spend time there, assisting them in
getting death certificates, praying with and comforting them. Vern's
wife, also a chaplain, was deployed to extend pastoral care ministry within
the Pentagon.
>> Gary Harbaugh, LDR Caregiver, met this week with pastors in northern and
central New Jersey. He reports significant needs among the pastors as they
continue their ministry to grieving members and communities. At the end of
October there will be a gathering of 150 LCMS pastors for reflection and
empowering.
>> Foster McCurley, LDR Caregiver, will be in the metropolitan New York
area next week. He will be present at a number of gatherings in Long
Island and Manhattan, providing Biblical and theological insights for
clergy, school teachers, and to the general public.
>> Plans are being put into place to help children in the upcoming
Christmas season, as well as provide "Camp Noah" (a special program for
children traumatized by disasters). I'll give you specifics on how you can
help as they are developed.
>> Respite care for rostered clergy, deaconesses, and Lutheran school
teachers in New York and New Jersey, is being coordinated by both the ELCA
and LCMS.
>> LDR ministries continue to be coordinated with our faith partners
through Church World Service.
This week a pastor from Iowa spoke with me at length. She was deployed two
weeks as part of a specialized team to work at the World Trade Center
sites. "Where are the Lutherans?" she asked me. "The Buddhists are there
handing out their tracts, the Salvation Army is visible in their uniforms.
But I didn't see the Lutheran presence."
Perhaps Lutherans may not be so visible. But they are there. The church
is hard at work "being the church" providing God's presence and promise
through thousands of congregations across the country, though hundreds of
schools, by hundreds of specialized care givers and tens of thousands of
loving members. The ministry of comfort and renewal is being provided to
untallied numbers of grieving families and communities, to children and
rescue workers, to firefighters and hurting neighborhoods_even on the
disaster sites. I tried to help this Iowan pastor see that her presence
and her ministry are as much a part of the total church's response as are
those who are more easily identified.
I want to thank you for all you are doing, as well. Your strong prayers
are sustaining for those who have been affected and for those who are
responding. And your generosity is enabling the church to be active now
and for the years that stretch ahead.
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 Fri, Oct 19, 2001, at 3:22 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
