wfn.org | ELCA Pastors Visit New York for 'Solidarity Weekend'

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 17, 2002

ELCA PASTORS VISIT NEW YORK FOR 'SOLIDARITY WEEKEND'
02-090-SP*

     NEW YORK (ELCA) -- Approximately 200 pastors of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), including about half of the
church's 65 synod bishops, were here April 6-7 for "Solidarity
Weekend."  The visitors came from around the country to show support
for pastors, congregations and ministries dealing with the nearly-
seven-month aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
     The ELCA has 10,816 congregations and 5.13 million members
across the United States and Caribbean.  The church has more than
17,600 pastors.
     About 130 of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod's 225
congregations hosted visiting ELCA pastors.  Some pastors preached
during Sunday worship in Connecticut and New Jersey congregations in
suburban New York City.
     One group of visitors from the Seattle area worshiped at
Trinity Lutheran Church, Brooklyn.  The Rev. W. Chris  Boerger,
bishop of the ELCA Northwest Washington Synod, Seattle, preached
there.  The Rev. Marjorie A. Funk-Pihl, a pastor from Boerger's
synod, presented Trinity members with a cloth featuring hand prints
from children in Sunday school at First of Richmond Beach Lutheran
Church, Shoreline, Wash.
     All visiting pastors participated in an April 6 service of
celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ at Madison Avenue
Presbyterian Church, Manhattan.  The Rev. Carol S. Hendrix, bishop of
the ELCA Lower Susquehanna Synod, Harrisburg, Pa., presided, and the
Rev. Robert A. Rimbo, bishop of the ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod,
Detroit, preached. Other bishops served in such roles as acolytes,
ushers and lectors.
     During the service, the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the
ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, who acted as host to the visiting
pastors, thanked worshipers for the support the ELCA has given his
synod and the region's ministries.  In turn, the congregation thanked
Bouman for his leadership with a standing ovation.
     Bouman acknowledged "teachers, pastors, lay leaders -- the
church in New York" who have responded since the Sept. 11 attacks.
     Also present at the service was Daniel A. Nigro, a member of
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Bayside (Queens).  Nigro was named
chief of the New York City Fire
Department after his predecessor was killed in the collapse of the
north tower of the World Trade Center.  In his greetings to
worshipers, Nigro said, "What we have found since Sept. 11 is that we
have many friends.  In this church today, we have many friends here,
and we thank you."
     Prior to Saturday worship, some of the bishops and other
visitors were bused by the New York City Police Department to Ground
Zero and related sites in Lower Manhattan.  Steve Dato, a member of
Grace Lutheran Church, North Bellmore, N.Y., and a police department
lieutenant, showed the visitors a slide presentation at the city's
police headquarters on the events of Sept. 11.
     From a platform used by family members of victims at Ground
Zero, the group viewed the cleanup efforts that are continuing in a
four-story-deep hole.
     The group's final stop was St. Paul's Chapel, a historic church
and Episcopal-run ministry adjacent to Ground Zero.  St. Paul's has
been a respite center for workers at the site to rest or receive
meals.  Operations at the chapel cost approximately $3,000 a day.
     During the Lutherans' visit, Lutheran Disaster Response-New
York (LDR-NY) coordinator John Scibilia presented the Rev. Lyndon
Harris, associate responsible for ministry at St. Paul's, with a
$21,000 check for a week's worth of food at the chapel.
     ELCA members contributed nearly $7 million to Lutheran Disaster
Response (LDR) for the church's response to the terrorist attacks.
LDR is a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod (LCMS).  A large portion of the contributions is being
spent through LDR-NY, directed by Bouman and the Rev. David H. Benke,
president of the LCMS Atlantic District.
     In cooperation with other religious and national agencies, LDR-
NY has addressed the needs of many people who have struggled since
Sept. 11.  Counseling services and financial help have been provided
to hundreds of people who have no other emergency funding available,
said Scibilia.
     The ELCA Conference of Bishops and the ELCA Department for
Synodical Relations worked with the Metropolitan New York Synod and
neighboring synods to help make arrangements for the pastors' visit.
     The idea for what became Solidarity Weekend was first suggested
by Bouman at the October 2001 meeting of the ELCA Conference of
Bishops, an advisory body of the church consisting of 65 synod
bishops, the ELCA presiding bishop and the ELCA secretary.  Many
bishops supported the idea that evolved into the April 6-7 events.
     "This is an opportunity for us to show our support in love and
prayer with congregations in New York," said the Rev. Donald J.
McCoid, bishop of the ELCA Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod,
Pittsburgh, and chair of the Conference of Bishops.  "It is wonderful
that we can do this in the Easter season, when we can say that death
doesn't have the last word.  There is life," McCoid said.
     According to Bouman and McCoid, many distinct efforts have been
providing assistance to congregations, including respite for pastors
in this and similar crises.  But neither bishop was aware of an
organized effort of this magnitude to provide such support in a
single effort.
     "For our whole church to respond and go to New York together is
great," McCoid said.

* Stephen H. Padre is an associate director for interpretation, ELCA
Department for Communication.  He is responsible for communications
of the ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal.

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