Title: Lutherans Planning to Remember Fifth Anniversary of September 11 Attacks ELCA NEWS SERVICE
September 1, 2006
Lutherans Planning to Remember Fifth Anniversary of September 11 Attacks 06-135-JB/KH*
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans will mark the 5th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks through worship and special remembrances throughout the church.
The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and the crash of a plane controlled by hijackers near Shanksville, in south-central Pennsylvania, killed nearly 3,000 people and left thousands injured.
In the New York City area -- where leaders and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) worked together to respond to people in need -- Lutherans will commemorate the fifth anniversary with worship and reflections Sept. 8, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Manhattan.
The commemoration event is sponsored by Lutheran Disaster Response of New York (LDRNY), a joint ministry of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod and the LCMS Atlantic District. Planned for Sept. 8, the event will include special music and reflections by the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop, ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, and the Rev. David H. Benke, president LCMS Atlantic District, according to an LDRNY news release. Bouman is also president of LDRNY and Benke is vice president.
LDRNY raised more than $13 million for Sept. 11 relief and recovery, and it has provided funds to help thousands of people and their families, the release said. It has worked in cooperation with a variety of agencies, including Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), a joint churchwide and national ministry of the ELCA and LCMS. Funds contributed to ELCA Domestic Disaster Response and distributed through LDR totaled more than $10.6 million for the September 11 disaster.
Heather L. Feltman, LDR director and director of ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, Chicago, will attend the New York events Sept. 8, representing the ELCA churchwide organization.
On Sept. 10, the "Lutheran family" will meet again at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church for a public performance of Bach Vespers in commemoration of the anniversary, Bouman said.
"This is a very significant time for us in New York," Bouman said. "It's a reminder of what happened on that awful day, as well as a testament to the work of God through individuals and programs like LDRNY."
"LDRNY is a blessing that continues to touch the lives of thousands of people in New York," Benke said.
Trinity Lutheran Church, Somerset, Pa., will host a program Sept. 10 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks, and will focus attention on the crash of United Airlines Flight 93. A multimedia musical dramatization, "Reverence for Life," features the words of Albert Schweitzer and the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The program is presented in cooperation with local Flight 93 committees.
"As we thought about the fifth anniversary of the Flight 93 tragedy, we considered what our church could provide as an inspiration to the community rather than a memorial service," said Kim Rauch, choir director and organist, Trinity Lutheran Church.
Offerings given at the program will be used for the Flight 93 National Memorial. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a nonprofit financial services organization based in Minneapolis, will provide matching funds.
Worship, prayer resources available on ELCA Web site
The ELCA Web site contains a series of resources that were created or recommended by clergy from New York City, as well as staff with the ELCA worship and Domestic Disaster Response teams here at the churchwide office.
The resources are available at
http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/resources/06-08-25-sept11.asp on the ELCA Web site. They include: + "Prayer Litany from '9/11,'" commissioned by St. Peter Lutheran Church, New York + "Prayer of Lament," recommended by the Rev. Robert A. Rimbo, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church + "Sermon Starter," from Sept. 2006 Liturgical Press, "Homily Helps," contributed by the Rev. Amandus J. Derr, St. Peter Lutheran Church + "Scriptures and Sermon Starters," contributed by the Rev. Kevin A. Massey, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response + "Benediction and Sending," recommended by Derr
Additional worship resources for September 11 remembrances are available from the ELCA Worship team at http://www.ELCA.org/worship/liturgies/archive/911/index.html on the ELCA Web site.
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Information about Lutheran Disaster Response-New York is at http://www.ldrny.org/ on the Web.
Information about Lutheran Disaster Response, the joint churchwide and national ministry of the ELCA and LCMS is at http://www.ldr.org on the Web.
*Katherine R. Hinck is a senior journalism and religion major at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D. In 2006 she was an intern with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog