Title: Anabaptist leaders visit New Orleans Jan. 4, 2007 Church of the Brethren News Service Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director 800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org
ANABAPTIST LEADERS VISIT NEW ORLEANS
(Jan. 4, 2007) Elgin, IL -- Leaders of five Anabaptist denominations visited New Orleans and other communities in Louisiana in late 2006. The group called the Council of Moderators and Secretaries, was there to support communities in the ongoing struggle to recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Belita D. Mitchell, moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, and Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the Church of the Brethren General Board, are part of the nine-member council that traveled to Louisiana from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, 2006. The council also includes leaders of the Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Brethren, Brethren in Christ, and Conservative Mennonite Conference. They meet annually to discuss common concerns among Anabaptist denominations.
The council visited devastated New Orleans neighborhoods, worshiped with an Anabaptist congregation in nearby Metairie, and attended the dedication of a house built by Mennonite Disaster Service in the southern Louisiana community of Pointe-aux-Chenes. They also heard from Roy Winter, director of Emergency Response for the Church of the Brethren, and met with local pastors and aid workers.
Enormous challenges still facing Gulf Coast communities as a result of the hurricanes, the group learned. Among the challenges, hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated have not returned. Many people continue to live in trailers or other temporary housing arrangements in unfamiliar communities far from family, churches, and jobs.
Delays in restoring city services have slowed the return of evacuees, according to Tim Barr, Gulf Coast disaster response coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee. Additionally, many evacuees lack the basic resources they need to make the transition home. "The hope is that a lot of people are going to come back to New Orleans, but the reality is that many people can't," Barr said.
Bob Zehr, a retired Mennonite pastor, thanked aid agencies for their assistance to churches and communities in the Gulf Coast, but added that many needs remain. He said many members of his congregation, Lighthouse Fellowship in Plaquemines Parish, have not yet qualified for housing assistance for various reasons. He fears that some people, such as those in his congregation, are "falling through the cracks."
In related news, the Disaster Child Care program of the Church of the Brethren began a new project in New Orleans this week, offering child care at a new "Welcome Home Center" organized by FEMA. Child care at the center is scheduled to continue through the year 2007, and will be carried out by certified volunteers from around the country. (For more about Disaster Child Care go to www.disasterchildcare.org.)
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
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For more information contact:
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Director of News Services Church of the Brethren General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 800-323-8039 ext. 260 cobnews@brethren.org
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