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07494 August 10, 2007
No Presbyterians believed injured in bridge collapse
Prayer services, sermons highlight faith response in Twin Cities
by Evan Silverstein Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - Despite some close calls, no Presbyterians were reportedly hurt last week when an entire span of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis suddenly plunged into the Mississippi River, killing at least five and injuring scores of others.
As Navy divers pulled remains from the wreckage of the bridge on Thursday (Aug. 9), none of the eight people originally listed as missing and presumed killed in the collapse were believed to be Presbyterian.
"We have canvassed all of our churches that are in the area and we found that none of them reported members that were involved in the collapse itself," said Nancy Grittman, stated clerk of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area.
The catastrophe, which occurred during evening rush hour Aug. 1, triggered a widespread call for prayers from churches across the region along with a number of interfaith services as the religious community quickly joined together to respond.
"I think there's been a significant connection that represents and reflects the community wanting to come together and wanting to respond in a way that gives people an opportunity to be together," said the Rev. Byron Thompson, associate pastor for pastoral care at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis.
Thompson helped lead a special noon prayer and reflection service at Westminster church that was attended by about a dozen people on Friday (Aug. 3). The church sanctuary remained open to the public past normal operating hours on Thursday and Friday as well.
The Rev. Meghan K. Gage, Westminster's associate pastor for children, youth and families, co-led the 30-minute service that included poetry and readings from Psalms.
"We felt it was very important as a downtown church and as a telling presence in the city to be open and welcoming and to be a comforting presence at Westminster," Gage told the Presbyterian News Service. "And also to be in solidarity and be active in the larger Christian and interfaith community here in the city."
The Rev. Douglas Mitchell, Westminster's associate pastor for faith in action, helped organize an interfaith service at a local synagogue and participated in the procession of clergy during another service at a Minneapolis Episcopal church where 1,400 people gathered, including relatives of the dead, public officials and members of the disaster response effort.
The 3,000-member Westminster church, located near the Minneapolis Convention Center less than two miles from the fallen 40-year-old bridge, also made clergy available for counseling.
"It's a strange time to be a visitor in this city in the midst of a tragedy and the feeling of shock and sadness around you," Gage said. "So we wanted to welcome those who were in the midst of the confusion, away from home, to come and reflect and worship with us."
Gage said she knew of many close calls involving Presbyterians who had crossed the doomed interstate freeway bridge that spans between Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN, just minutes prior to its collapse.
However, she said no one from her congregation was involved or among those still unaccounted for.
On Sunday (Aug. 5) pastors at Presbyterian congregations and other local churches read sermons focusing on the deadly event as hundreds gathered at services throughout the area seeking community prayer, comfort and hope.
The Web site of the Twin Cities Area Presbytery [http://www.ptcaweb.org/] said its prayers go out to those impacted by the collapsed bridge, including recovery crews.
A separate statement from the Rev. Sarai Schnucker, the presbytery's interim executive, thanked those who had expressed concern for members of the middle governing body.
"We want you to know how much we appreciate your thoughts and prayers," Schnucker's statement said. "It is a great comfort to us to know that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses in this difficult time."
Linda Bryant Valentine, executive director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly Council, emailed a message to Schnucker and the Rev. Phil Brown, executive of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies.
"You are in our thoughts and prayers as we watch images of tragedy and anguish from the collapsed bridge," Valentine's message said. "The Presbyterian Communicators Network gathered here in Louisville prayed for you and the people directly affected. I know that you and they have been in prayers of Presbyterians across the country."
The Rev. Kathleen Macosko, pastor of Stadium Village Church in Minneapolis, a Presbyterian congregation located on the University of Minnesota campus near the eight-lane I-35W bridge, said she and a staff member started praying immediately upon learning of the span's fate.
Macosko, who drove across the bridge just 45 minutes prior to its collapse, said her sermon on Sunday titled "Where Will You Land?" was dedicated to the tragedy.
She said a nearby site along the Mississippi River, where her 60-member congregation often conducts baptisms, has become the staging area for rescue workers responding to the disaster.
"The loss of life could have been much worse," Macosko said. "We're just so grateful that there wasn't more tragedy. Our prayers now are for the rescuers. That they can figure out what to do with all that concrete [wreckage from the bridge] and that no one will be hurt as they move it."
The Rev. Scott O. Stapleton, pastor of Grace Trinity Community Church near downtown Minneapolis, confirmed that none of his congregants were involved in the bridge disaster.
He said special prayers and concerns were incorporated into last Sunday's service at the 113-member church, which is a Presbyterian and American Baptist congregation situated about four miles from the collapsed bridge.
"People were looking forward to that time," Stapleton said of the worship service. "They wanted an occasion to talk about their own feelings and their reactions. And prayer was a wonderfully appropriate way of doing it."
Stapleton said parishioners were also encouraged to attend various interfaith services that took place in the aftermath of the tragedy.
"It certainly affected life in the city," he said. "It really was one of those ground-shaking moments. I know there have been worse tragedies elsewhere, but everyone stopped here. It had the effect of drawing people closer together."
The Rev. David A. Van Dyke, the new pastor at The House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, said that none of his members were involved directly or indirectly in the bridge incident.
Van Dyke, who coincidently started his new job at the 1,600-member church the day the bridge gave way, said victims of the tragedy were remembered during communion on Sunday.
The former pastor of Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, OH, said that at a reception following worship he heard many stories of close calls by parishioners and their family members who crossed the bridge only moments before it fell.
"People definitely came to church with it on their mind," Van Dyke said. "I think anytime something like that happens it gives everybody pause."
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