wfn.org | [ENS] CD tour of New York's Ground Zero aims to clarify God's

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

Daybook from Episcopal News Service

September 9, 2005 - Friday Forum

CD tour of New York's Ground Zero aims to clarify God's presence on 9/11

[Episcopal News Service] This Sunday marks four years since the deadly
and
destructive September 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York City,
Washington,
DC and Pennsylvania. The physical recovery is over, yet the pit where
the
World Trade Center once stood has become a pilgrimage for many who visit
the
area nearly every day.

Dr. Courtney Cowart, an adjunct professor at General Theological
Seminary,
recognized a need to provide a spiritual reference to this powerful
moment
in American history that would help people cope with 9/11 and its
aftermath.
Funding from the Templeton Foundation enabled her to produce a 72-minute
compact disc called, " A Pilgrim's Walking Tour of Ground Zero: Stories
from
the 9/11 Recovery Community."

She said she pursued the project because she believes that "for the
larger
society its message is inspirational, and for visitors to the site it
serves
a pressing unmet need."

On the day of the attacks Cowart was working in the offices of Trinity
Church and became one of thousands of people evacuated from the area.
She
returned four days later and helped establish the volunteer effort at
St.
Paul's Chapel that supported recovery workers.

The CD, narrated by Cowart, consists of music, poetry, interviews and
stories from other volunteers, recovery workers, and families who lost
loved
ones. It comes with a map and instructions for a seven-stop, mile-long
tour
starting at St. Paul's.

Contributors to the CD include Tony Palmeri and Joe Bassetti, two
members of
New York's Department of Sanitation; Brother Douglas Brown of the Holy
Cross
Benedictine Monastery; and Sister Grace of the Episcopal Society of St.
Margaret, who served nine months as coordinator for recovery workers at
St.
Paul's, and tells how she found consolation the following spring in a
bird's
nest containing debris from the disaster.

"A Pilgrim's Walking Tour of Ground Zero" also includes the stories of
Joe
Bradley, a crane operator, who helped dismantle the wreckage, and Ulla
Suokko, a world renowned flutist who played daily at St. Paul's while
workers took time to eat and rest. The Rev. Lyndon Harris, at the time
the
chapel's vicar, also describes his experience of the recovery effort.

The CD's cover features the now-famous "Courage" banner designed by
Jessica
Stammen, a former student at New York's Cooper Union School of Art and a
member of St. Paul's Chapel.

"The goal of all of this is to make some kind of spiritual sense of
where
God was to be found in so much suffering and death," Cowart said in a
press
release. As Brother Douglas says on the CD, "This is about love that is
stronger than death, love that reached down into the grave and didn't
let
go."

Acclaimed songwriter and singer Beth Nielsen Chapman contributed two of
her
songs for the production, and Emmy award-winning musician, composer and
producer Gary Malkin his own ethereal music.

The CD was produced by the Episcopal Media Center and retails for $15.
It is
available online at www.episcopalmedia.org or by phoning 1-800-229-3788.

A special companion website for the CD was produced at:
http://www.courage911.com.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit New York Disaster Interfaith
Services.

"It does take you back to the pain of that day, but it also helps you
understand the courage, compassion and community that were demonstrated
for
the nine months that followed," said the Rev. Canon Louis C. Schueddig,
the
CD's producer and executive director of the Episcopal Media Center. "It
takes you from the horrible Good Friday experience of 9/11 to many of
the
amazing Easter stories of the recovery mission."

For Audio excerpts from the CD, transcripts, and related graphics see:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_65457_ENG_HTM.htm

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