wfn.org | Book is 9/11 remembrance

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #7414 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

03-September-2002
02338

Book is 9/11 remembrance 

PDA volume has prayers, hymns, worship resources for anniversary

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has published a collection of reflections on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - Out of the Depths: Voices of the Presbyterian Faith Community at Work After September 11.

The 64-page volume explores the nature of suffering and faith, and presents the thoughts of many Presbyterian pastors, chaplains and other church leaders involved in the aftermath of the attacks. It also includes worship materials, hymns and passages from scripture that may be useful on the first anniversary of the disaster.

"The most timely thing about it is that it has a complete worship service written for the anniversary," said Stan Hankins, PDA's associate for U.S. disaster response. "That's why we have posted it on the denomination's Web site  because we know our congregations are beginning to plan what they're going to do around the anniversary."

The book was produced by a team headed by Hankins: The Rev. Laurie Ann Kraus, content editor; Judy Steer, managing editor; and Carol Eberhart Johnson, designer. 

The Web address is www.pcusa.org/september11/depths.htm. 

The publication's title is a reference to the faith community's response to the tragedy in New York City, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania - grieving, listening, praying, and counseling with the people who were suffering.

Among the reflections included in the book, which is described as "a work in progress":

A Ministry of Presence, by the Rev. Suzanne Schafer-Coates, pastor of the Meadow Lakes Congregation of the First Presbyterian Church in Hightstown, NJ; Apocalypse and Recovery, by the Rev. Mark Greiner, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Baldwin, Long Island, NY; and The Suffering Servant, by the Rev. Julie E. Hodges, associate pastor of Clifton Presbyterian Church in Clifton, VA.

"I long for understanding, yet I feel like some cloud, some shadow of confusion, has settled over my psyche," Greiner writes. "My previous ways of making sense of the world, my faith, and my nation no longer fit."

Inside the front cover is the hymn, O God, Our Words Cannot Express, which the Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Pitman, NJ, wrote on Sept. 11 while watching television news reports. The hymn has since been used in many ecumenical services, and has appeared on public television in the United States and Great Britain. 

We trust your mercy and your grace.
In you we will not fear!
May peace and justice now embrace!
Be with your people here!

The book evolved from a PDA-sponsored conference last November for pastors, chaplains and others affected by 9/11.

Selections from Out of the Depths are also available at the Web site mentioned above, together with color graphics and photographs, some taken at the attack sites, and depictions of paintings illustrating the healing power of Jesus. 

Every Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation has received a copy of the book. Additional copies are available free from Presbyterian Distribution Service; to order, call toll-free (800) 524-2612 or log on to www.pcusa.org/marketplace and request item # 74340-02-012.
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