wfn.org | [ENS] Hurricane Katrina: A message from the Presiding Bishop

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: A message from the Presiding Bishop

ENS 083105-1

[Episcopal News Service]

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

I am sending this message by email to our bishops, clergy and
congregations
-- insofar as is possible -- so that it might be shared and that we
might be
a community united in prayer and service during this time.

During these past days I have been contacting bishops in the areas
affected
by hurricane Katrina and have spoken to the bishops of Alabama, the
Central
Gulf Coast, Louisiana and Mississippi. As you would imagine, they are
ministering to their communities the very best they can under
extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Communication is tenuous, and
in
some cases impossible. As hour by hour the almost unimaginable ravages
of
the hurricane become more fully known we are continuing to learn of
further
losses of life, houses, churches, and other familiar points of
reference,
including the destruction of whole communities.

At this time let us be exceedingly mindful that bearing one another's
burdens and sharing one another's suffering is integral to being members
of
Christ's body. I call upon every member of our church to reach out in
prayer
and tangible support to our brothers and sisters as they live through
these
overwhelming days of loss and begin to face the difficult challenges of
the
future.

Episcopal Relief and Development has been in contact with all the
dioceses
in the Gulf Coast area touched by the hurricane and will be working with
them long after the television cameras have left. Funds have already
been
sent to the dioceses of Central Gulf Coast, Mississippi and Louisiana. I
ask
you to donate funds to the work of ERD such that our brothers and
sisters in
Christ will have the resources needed for the monumental task of
reconstruction and rebuilding. Donations to ERD can be made as follows
with
an indication that they are designated for hurricane relief: via ERD's
website at www.er-d.org 24 hours a day; by calling ERD at 800/334-7626,
extension 5129 Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard time;
by
sending a check payable to Episcopal Relief and Development, Box 12043,
Newark, New Jersey 07101-5043.

The Rt. Rev. George Packard, Suffragan Bishop for Chaplaincies, has been
in
contact with bishops in the Gulf Coast area. Bishop Packard is working
such
that a network of chaplains -- police, fire, civil defense and military
chaplains -- is providing information to the bishops about what is
happening
in areas of their dioceses they have not been able to reach. The next
stage
of his work will be setting up training for clergy and others in dealing
with the trauma so many have experienced.

Episcopal Migration Ministries is also responding and Richard Parkins,
the
Director of EMM, is investigating the possibilities of resettlement for
people who are temporarily homeless.

Life affords us very few securities and yet deep within us, often
revealed
in the midst of profound vulnerability and loss, springs up a hope that
contradicts the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Such hope
emerges
from the depths of despair as pure and unexpected gift. This is the way
in
which Christ accompanies us and seeks to share our burdens. May Christ
so be
with those of us who are enduring the effects of the hurricane, and may
each
one of us be a minister of hope to others in these dark and tragic days.

May we together pray:

God of mercy and compassion, be in our midst and bind us together in
your
Spirit as a community of love and service to bear one another's burdens
in
these days as we face the ravages of storm and sea. This we pray through
Jesus Christ our Lord from whom alone comes our hope.
Amen.

The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church, USA

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