wfn.org | ELCA Chaplains, Counselors, Clinical Educators Minister to Victims

[News News <NEWS@elca.org>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 24, 2001

ELCA CHAPLAINS, COUNSELORS, CLINICAL EDUCATORS MINISTER TO VICTIMS
01-264-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- On Sept. 11, when terrorists destroyed the
World Trade Center in New York and damaged the Pentagon near
Washington, emergency personnel thronged to the sites from around the
country.  Chaplains, pastoral counselors and clinical educators of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) assisted local
clergy and lay leaders.
     "Several ELCA chaplains were among the first to respond to the
terrorist attacks in New York," said the Rev. Donald A. Stiger, ELCA
director for specialized pastoral care and clinical education.
"Trauma ministry centers were established at two major hospitals, and
chaplains were closely involved in ministering to burn victims,
injured persons and their families."
     "As the flow of trauma victims slowed, chaplains and clinical
pastoral education (CPE) students could be found ministering to those
standing in long lines to report missing loved ones.  This ministry
became known as 'working the lines' and took several shifts," said
Stiger.  CPE is graduate-level instruction in pastoral care, usually
conducted in a hospital or other health care facility.
     "Meanwhile, the Lutheran Counseling Center in New York began
finding its waiting area jammed with people off the street seeking
help in their shock, fear and grief.  Other chaplains were involved
in ministries at the armory and through the American Red Cross," said
Stiger.
     At his office in Chicago, Stiger has gathered daily reports of
ELCA clergy and lay ministers involved in specialized pastoral care
ministries, responding to many of the needs the terrorist attacks
created.
     The Rev. Daina K. Salnitis serves Lutheran Church of the
Apostles, Atlanta.  With experience as a police chaplain in
California and Georgia, she is certified in critical incident stress
management.  The National Transportation Safety Board and American
Red Cross trained her to serve on their Aviation Incident Response
(AIR) Team, which is first to respond to a commercial airplane crash.
     On Sept. 12 Salnitis was called to New York, said Stiger.  "She
served at the armory, working with distraught family members; she has
assisted at the temporary morgue; and she has rotated through duty
cycles ministering at Ground Zero," he said.
     "Several of our chaplains and CPE supervisors, trained in
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, are part of a special team
working with the American Red Cross.  They have been deployed to New
Jersey and other areas to extend ministry to traumatized families and
others," said Stiger.
     The Rev. Vernon M. Flesner, chaplain and CPE supervisor,
Providence St. Peter's Hospital, Tacoma, Wash., joined other ELCA
caregivers, "accompanying grieving family members on ferryboats to
Ground Zero, being with them as they spend time there and assisting
them in getting death certificates," said Stiger.
     The Rev. Ray E. Dice, director of pastoral care and CPE,
Covenant Health Care, Saginaw, Mich., and Flesner were deployed to
the New York area as AIR Team members.
     The Rev. Dianna L. Cox, chaplain, MultiCare Health System,
Tacoma, Wash., was sent to Washington to provide pastoral care
ministry within the Pentagon.
     The Rev. Claude V. Deal Jr., retired chaplain and CPE
supervisor, Duke University Hospitals, Durham, N.C., served two weeks
as chaplain of the Washington Disaster Center.  "He carved out a
ministry of care for non-Pentagon workers who lost associates in the
attack on the Pentagon," said Stiger.
     The Rev. J. Vincent Guss Jr., chaplain and pastoral care
director, Inova Alexandria Hospital, Alexandria, Va., established
pastoral care sites in the Washington area and managed a 24-hour
counseling hotline.
     Stiger said the ELCA Division for Ministry has been working
closely with Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) since Sept. 11.  "This
new partnership has been mutually beneficial" for LDR and the
division's department for specialized care ministries, he said.
     LDR is a ministry of the ELCA and The Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod.  It helps coordinate immediate and long-term recovery efforts
when disasters occur anywhere in the United States and Caribbean.  It
also provides care, counseling and assistance to survivors and their
families.
     Stiger said LDR has been working with Church World Service to
create a "Spiritual and Emotional Coordination Center" -- a way of
identifying and deploying persons for a variety of caregiving
ministries.
     "Over the extensive period of recovery ahead, qualified
chaplains and pastoral counselors will be needed, particularly in New
York," said Stiger.  Several other certified and qualified pastoral
care and counseling volunteers are registering with him, making
themselves available should their skills be needed.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html