wfn.org | [ENS] Bishop brings first-hand view of Katrina devastation, response

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

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

September 16, 2005 - Friday Forum

Bishop brings first-hand view of Katrina devastation, response

George Packard offers update, emphasizes humility while delivering New
York's annual Hobart Lecture

by Daphne Mack

[ENS] Providing a vivid picture of the level of mental and physical
devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, Bishop George E. Packard
delivered
the sixth annual Hobart Lecture held on September 12 at the Diocese of
New
York's Synod House.

The Hobart Lectures, a series of annual addresses presented to
acknowledge
and encourage the pastoral ministry of the Church, were named after
Bishop
John Henry Hobart, the third bishop of New York (1816-1830).

Packard -- the Episcopal Church's bishop suffragan for chaplaincies,
including those supporting the Armed Services - had just returned from
Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, after surveying the damaged areas, and speaking with
several chaplains and evacuees. "These conditions were worse than what
I've
seen in Baghdad," he said.

"When I got off the plane in Baton Rouge a week and a half ago, I
thought of
humility because they have nothing and because of the persistent
dampness
left over from the hurricane you could smell the earth," Packard said.
"So
those two experiences work at you."

Quoting Thomas Merton, a monk, poet and spiritual writer, who once
wrote,
"For like a grain of fire; Smoldering in the heart of every living
essence;
God plants His undivided power-; Buries his thoughts too vast for
worlds; In
seed and root and blade and flower," Packard asked what it was about
humility. He said that if we trace it back to its roots, "we might begin
to
see then that there is an importance in a pastoral vigilance to any
behavior
that prevents us from being ultimately grounded."

Packard identified there being "four levels of trauma at work here:
first, a
flight from water and wind; second, transfer to an evacuation center;
third,
travel from the center -- one woman died on the roof, others grabbed for
food and then at each other; fourth, a connection with the final,
temporary
home. Think of what effect all these cycles have on vulnerable
populations
like the frail elderly, the sick, and children."

The bishop quoted African American inventor George Washington Carver
saying,
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant
of
the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of
these."

Packard told the story of a young girl who, left alone and separated
from
her parents during the disaster, went to a hospital across from her
Episcopal parish church seeking help. Packard said she was given refuge
in a
hallway filled with dead bodies. He said the girl ran away and cared for
herself until she found her way to St. Luke's Church, Baton Rouge, where
she
found support and comfort.

Packard described the work of two recovery areas: the Mississippi Gulf
Coast
and the greater metropolitan area in the city of New Orleans.

He said Mississippi's "Bishop Duncan Gray has marshaled resources
quickly
and is well rehearsed with his Lutheran counterpart bishop having done
prior
projects together. They are so far along so as to begin plans for the
establishment of long-term work camps."

According to Packard, when "Katrina came ashore and walloped the
Mississippi
Gulf then receded," the hurricane hit Louisiana in the "low-lying areas
even
beyond New Orleans and caused evacuation, prolonged suffering and
delayed
recovery all because of standing water." He said Louisiana Bishop
Charles
Jenkins "has had to start from scratch."

Packard also spoke about the "unique population of priests who deploy
from
among us" executing their duties in extreme situations, devoid of the
tools
of their ministry, and how he has urged them "to think of themselves as
ministry portable...carrying a presence with them."

"Hard work refers to prayer life, which discovers the gift of humility.
It
is the priceless gift for the clear minded and discerning," Packard
said.
"In that sense it's not work but the result of choice, the choice to
wait
and act only out of humility and therein for the gift of faith. As I
said in
Louisiana last Wednesday, in that capacity this area may be the
wealthiest
spot in Episcopal Church today."

"We're sending teams of two down to make inspections in the Gulf Coast
and
we're going to be sending follow-up teams after them," Packard explained
after the lecture. He said the type of work they do is for "critical
stress
that shows itself three weeks to a month after the event."

Packard said he will return to Louisiana next week and also attend the
House
of Bishop's meeting starting September 22 in Puerto Rico. There he will
recommend ways in which dioceses can adopt congregations, and how
congregations can adopt families affected by the hurricane.

--Daphne Mack is staff writer for Episcopal News Service.

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