wfn.org | Lutherans Continue 'Creative Ministry' Response to Victims

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

LUTHERANS CONTINUE 'CREATIVE MINISTRY' RESPONSE TO VICTIMS
01-271-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran churches continue their "creative
ministry" to respond to people directly impacted by the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks in the United States, according to the Rev. Gilbert B.
Furst, director for Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod (LCMS).
     In the first six weeks, Lutheran Disaster Response has provided
care, counseling and assistance to survivors and their families, along
with coordinating immediate and long-term recovery efforts, after
terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and damaged the
Pentagon near Washington, D.C.
     Anna Eissfeldt and the Rev. R. Richard Armstrong led a workshop
designed to support school staff who still need to tell their students,
"Your parent is dead," said Furst.  The workshop also guided teachers in
helping students cope with the crisis in New York.
     Eissfeldt, a school psychologist, Tampa, Fla., and Armstrong,
Grace Lutheran Church, St. Petersburg, Fla., led the workshop on Staten
Island and southeast Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 19 and 20,
respectively.  The workshop is part of "God's Care in Time of Crisis," a
program designed to train parochial teachers on helping defuse
situations of anxiety among students following acts of violence.
Eissfeldt directs the program.
     "Ann Eissfeldt and Rick Armstrong have been present in Lutheran
schools in New York City for several weeks," Furst said.  "They have
done more than lead a workshop," he said.
     Furst reported that 47 children from Lutherans schools lost
parents in the destruction of the World Trade Center.
     "There are 21,000 students in 212 Lutheran schools of which 140
schools were directly impacted," he said.
     In New York 300 to 400 Lutheran teachers will gather for a
conference in November.  The conference will include three workshops
designed to provide individual and group counseling, and train 10 local
counselors to work "on the scene," Furst said.  Similar plans are being
developed for Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., he said.
     The Rev. Donald A. Stiger, director for specialized pastoral care
and clinical education, ELCA Division for Ministry, has been working
closely with Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) since Sept. 11.  Stiger
reported that several ELCA chaplains were among the first to respond
after the terrorist attacks in New York, Furst said.
     "Lutheran chaplains are ministering to those standing in long
lines to report missing loved ones. Some work with police chaplain
response teams, others work with distraught family members or assisting
at temporary morgues, or with the American Red Cross," Furst said.
     John Scibilia, New York disaster coordinator for Lutheran Disaster
Response, the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan
New York Synod, and the Rev. David Benke, president of the LCMS Atlantic
District, are working together to address the stress of on-going church
ministries in New York.
     Bouman is meeting with pastors to determine "what's going on" in
the areas they serve.  Clergy from Upstate New York continue to conduct
and organize memorial prayer services.
     "I have met with directors of our social ministry organizations,
deans of our [synod] conferences, and have heard stories from campus
ministry and local seminary [individuals].  All are hearing stories,
giving direct aid to victims and leading prayers," Bouman said.
     "Of the 47 children in our Lutheran schools who lost parents, a
little girl-- who lost her mom -- joined her classmates on a [recent]
visit to a local fire station which had lost nine of its men," Bouman
said in a report.  "The school had collected work clothes, gloves and
other materials to assist in the rescue operation.  Many wept when the
little girl looked up at the fireman and asked if they were going to
find her mom," Bouman said.
     Scibilia reported that Lutheran Social Services of Metropolitan
New York has seen an "amazing increased demand for food pantries," Furst
said.
     "A case management system is being structured in New York to
address needs and provide referral to resource [services].  Care for
orphaned children continues.  The Lutheran Counseling Center there is
receiving 100 calls a day for help.  The center's waiting area is jammed
with people off the street seeking help in their shock, fear and grief,"
Furst said.
     The Rev. Gary L. Harbaugh, care giver, Lutheran Disaster Response,
is meeting with pastors in northern and central New Jersey, New York,
Washington, D.C., and in the New England area, Furst said.  Harbaugh
reports that pastors share "significant needs" as they continue their
ministry to grieving Lutherans and others.  About 150 LCMS pastors will
gather at the end of October for reflection and "empowering," Furst
said.
     The Rev. Foster R. McCurley Jr., care giver, Lutheran Disaster
Response, will provide biblical and theological insights for clergy,
school teachers and to the general public in the metropolitan New York
area this month, Furst said.
     "Plans are being put into place to help children in the upcoming
Christmas season, as well as provide Camp Noah, a special program for
children traumatized by disasters," he said.
     Furst said respite care for clergy, deaconesses and Lutheran
school teachers in New York and New Jersey will be coordinated by the
ELCA and LCMS.
     "The church is hard at work being the church [by] providing God's
presence and promise through thousands of congregations across the
country, through hundreds of schools, by hundreds of specialized care
givers and tens of thousands of loving members," he said.
     "The ministry of comfort and renewal is being provided to an
untallied number of grieving families and communities, to children and
rescue workers, to firefighters and hurting neighborhoods on the
disaster sites," said Furst.

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DOMESTIC DISASTERS:

Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to survivors
of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S.
Virgin Islands, please include:

ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, IL  60694-1764
800-638-3522
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