wfn.org | [ENS] Out of Deep Waters: New Orleans cathedral's ministry goes

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

Episcopal News Service

Friday, September 23, 2005

Out of Deep Waters: New Orleans cathedral's ministry goes beyond its
walls

By Mary Frances Schjonberg

SIDEBAR: "Out of Deep Waters: Cathedral hears new music in storm's
aftermath" is available at:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_67741_ENG_HTM.htm

[ENS] The congregation and staff are scattered. There's a hole in the
roof
above the altar. Rain damaged the new plaster and paint from last year's
restoration.

Trees are down. The electrical area of the cathedral was once flooded.
The
humidity was threatening the organs, the pianos and the harpsichord
until a
generator could be installed to run the air conditioning.

The valuable artworks have been evacuated. The Prayer Books, Hymnals,
and
the entire Music Library are in cold storage to prevent them from
getting
moldy.

And the home page of Christ Church Cathedral New Orleans' website
proclaims:
"Christ Church Cathedral begins her third century facing the greatest
opportunity for ministry in our history."

The Very Rev. David S. duPlantier said this week that the immediate
ministry
of the cathedral was to serve the parishioners and other staff members
scattered all over the country. The priority at this point, he said, is
dealing with those who are suffering.

The cathedral staff, working from temporary offices at St. James
Episcopal
Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, began to be in touch with people and
give
what help they could. Among the means they used was to set up an email
link
on its website for people to check in with the cathedral. Its address,
whereyat@cccnola.org, evokes the traditional New Orleans greeting,
"Whereyaat?"

The staff is doing the pastoral work of a parish, such as helping a
parishioner who evacuated to Washington, D.C. find out about the fate of
her
mother who was in a nursing home in the New Orleans area.

DuPlantier learned of the cathedral parish's first Katrina-related
causality
on Wednesday. William Webster "Web" Deadman, Jr., 72, died this week
after
hitting his head while being rescued from his home.

The staff connected two of its members with Episcopal clergy in the
towns
where they found themselves. "They have taken them in as if they were
one of
their own," duPlantier said.

"We've seen some of the best of what the church stands for," he said.

That kind of help, plus the provision of office space and, in some
cases,
housing for six of his staff members in Baton Rouge, and the prayers
that
have come in from all corners of the Episcopal Church have been "most
vivid
examples of shared and partnered ministry," he said.

The cooperation across the denomination is heartening, duPlantier added
"We
haven't seen so much of that in the last three years," he said.

The liturgical life of the cathedral has continued, albeit not within
the
walls of the building. The dean celebrated Holy Eucharist and offered a
healing service on Thursday in the chapel of St. James. Thursday was the
feast of Blessed Philander Chase, the founding rector of Christ Church.

While the work of the cathedral has continued even if the cathedral
can't be
used, there was a vivid example of the importance of sacred space
earlier
this week. LTC Kurt Ryan, a battalion commander with the 82d Airborne
Division currently deployed in New Orleans, stopped by the cathedral
while
duPlantier and the Rev. Canon Steven Roberts were there Tuesday. He
wondered
whether there could be a celebration of Holy Eucharist his soldiers and
anyone else who could attend.

While Eucharist could have been celebrated anywhere, duPlantier said, "I
think they were excited about the prospect of having a real sanctuary."

DuPlantier had hoped to be able to get back into the cathedral on Friday
to
offer that Eucharist but he had to change plans because of Hurricane
Rita.
He and musicians Irvin Mayfield and Ron Markham went instead to meet the
soldiers at the Naval Air Station in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, south of
New
Orleans.

Meanwhile, the cathedral is also looking at how it can serve its Garden
District neighborhood and the city as a whole. He said the cathedral is
easy
to get to and has the space to be a resource to the city. It wants to
"be
able to serve those who are coming back to the city," duPlantier said,
whenever that might occur.

A message from duPlantier posted on the cathedral's website Wednesday
outlined those plans. "For the foreseeable future, we will likely be
hosting
displaced worshipping communities and staff members at the Cathedral. We
will create temporary office space and offer slots on Sunday for our
neighboring congregations to worship," he wrote. "We are also exploring
the
possibility of using Stuart Hall as a distribution center for donated
goods
for our surrounding community."

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the
Episcopal News Service.

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