wfn.org | Oklahoma City Learnings Shared at CWS Trauma Training

[Carol Fouke <carolf@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2252
E-mail: news@ncccusa.org; Web: www.ncccusa.org
NCC11/1/01 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEARNINGS FROM OKLAHOMA CITY RESPONSE ARE SHARED AT FIRST CWS INTERFAITH 
TRAUMA RESPONSE TEAM TRAINING EVENT
Next Church World Service Trainings Are Set for Nov. 16, 17

NEW YORK CITY -- Dozens of New York-area clergy and caregivers seeking to 
meet the long- and short-term challenges posed by the World Trade Center 
tragedy attended the first in a series of Church World Service Interfaith 
Trauma Response Team training events.

The sessions, held in mid-town Manhattan, were part of a major effort by 
Church World Service and its member denominations in responding to the 
events of Sept. 11 by providing immediate and long-term emotional and 
spiritual counseling and pastoral care.  CWS is the global service and 
witness ministry of the National Council of Churches.

The two four-hour sessions, held Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27, 
were coordinated by William Sage, a Church World Service Consultant who is 
coordinating the Interfaith Trauma Response Team, and were led by Oklahoma 
City residents Dr. Katrina Bright, Rev. Denise Glavan, and Rev. Tim Pool.

With a background in both theology and counseling psychology, the team of 
professionals had played prominent roles in the response and recovery 
efforts in Oklahoma City, Okla., following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred 
P. Murrah Federal Building and the devastating tornados in the spring of 
1999.

Participants were eager to share their concerns and discussed the many 
challenges they now face on the long road to recovery following the events 
of Sept. 11.  Rev. June Stitzinger-Clark, a United Methodist pastor from 
Atlanta Highlands, N.J., who attended the Oct. 26 event, said her community 
now has 80 widows from the tragedy; people are grieving and "remain in a 
state of shock;" they are seeking answers but are angry and depressed.

Dr. Sezelle Haddon of the Wellness Center of New York's Riverside Church, 
an international church with ties to the American Baptist Churches and the 
United Church of Christ, said she and other staff had expected large 
numbers of people seeking counseling after the event; but that has not 
materialized, leaving her and other mental health staff to wonder if there 
will be "something of delayed reaction" before or during the upcoming 
November-December holidays.

And Raymond Rodriguez of the New York City Administration for Children, 
asked: "There seems to be no end to this," he said of the continuing 
threats of terrorism. "So how do we now negotiate our day-to-day lives with 
this reality?"

Rev. Glavan said she understood all of the concerns, and that clergy and 
other caregivers need support now: "You represent God in your faith 
communities and people are coming to you for your help." She also said 
while clergy are trained in pastoral care for individual crises, "public 
trauma" stemming from a catastrophic disaster is far different, as it 
leaves large numbers of people paralyzed, "trying to make sense out of a 
senseless act."

"If you're looking for the 'why,' there isn't a 'why,' she said. "God did 
not drive those planes into the (World Trade Center) buildings. What 
happened was horrible and it's all right for you and those in your 
communities to be angry."

A disaster like Sept. 11 is also different than a natural disaster, said 
Dr. Bright, because while anger is an expected response to, say, a tornado, 
a terrorist act prompts a reaction of "rage - where violence meets 
powerlessness."

Both Dr. Bright and Rev. Glavan were able to address concerns with 
practical ways to help equip caregivers, both mentally and emotionally to 
embrace the many challenges ahead.

Among their suggestions to pastors and other caregivers:

7	Don't preach forgiveness, at least initially; it is too soon to do that, 
Rev. Glavan said. Less than a week after the Oklahoma City bombing, some 
pastors were already preaching the need for forgiveness, and that was 
inappropriate, given the community-wide suffering.
7	Don't try to do too much: "A bleeding heart that bleeds to death is of no 
good to anyone," Dr. Bright said.
7	Take time off: "If you don't take a day of rest, your people will feel 
they can't take a day of rest," Rev. Glavan said.
7	Use the fear and anxiety as emotions that can channeled to build stronger 
congregations and faith communities - say for community service work: "Use 
this energy to be a building block, a bridge, and not for destructive 
uses," Dr. Bright said. "This isn't about forgiveness; it is the opposite 
of destruction."
7	It is better to say you don't know when you don't know than trying to 
answer all questions. "If you don't know what to say, don't say anything," 
said Rev. Glavan. "Sometimes we try to fill in too much of our silence."
7	Don't push a pre-arranged agenda on congregations: "In this tragedy, you 
let them set the pace," said Dr. Bright.
7	Use the moment to try to unite congregations: "Ask the question, 'How do 
we get through this together?" said Rev. Glavan. "How do we face this 
together?' You have to acknowledge people's fears but also stress that 
people have to 'get through this experience together.' "

The trainers also cautioned against the phenomenon of "competitive guilt" - 
something they saw in Oklahoma City and are now witnessing in New York. 
This takes the form of people believing that they can only be of service if 
they are at Ground Zero, or that they are working harder than another aid 
agency or church or have suffered more. Even some who received phone calls 
from loved ones prior to the collapse of the World Trade Center are 
comparing phone calls.

"It's a defense against powerlessness," Dr. Bright said. But Rev. Poole 
warned strongly against "competitive guilt" in any form. "Suffering is 
absolute. Pain is pain," he said. "It can't be compared or quantified."

Rev. Glavan said the positive response to these initial training events 
proves "how much a need there is for this, how much hurt there is."  Now 
being planned are a more intensive, six-hour training event (Friday, Nov. 
16) for recognized faith leaders providing direct counseling or pastoral 
care to their communities, and another four-hour, interactive workshop 
orientation (Saturday, Nov. 17) for any faith leader in any capacity 
providing direct or indirect caregiving stemming from the Sept. 11 tragedy.

"You can't make sense out of a senseless situation," she said. "But working 
within the faith community, these clergy can begin the work they need for 
their communities to cope.

"What we do is encourage them and give them some tools," she said, "because 
you can never be prepared for something like this."

As part of a broad response to the events of Sept. 11, Church World Service 
will continue to sponsor the training events for local clergy, caregivers 
and spiritual leaders.

A total of 70 participants - two sets of 35 each - enrolled in the 
trainings events. Enrollment in the sessions were quickly filled up and 
numerous caregivers had to be turned away, Sage said.

For more information, contact William Sage at (212) 288-6857 or email: 
wsageo@aol.com <mailto:wsageo@aol.com>

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