wfn.org | Daybook, Episcopal News Service September 13, 2004

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service September 13, 2004 - Monday Mission: 
Ministry and Outreach

Prayers aid 9/11 healing process; News Service to enhance memorial archive

[ENS, New York] -- From St. Paul's Chapel in Lower Manhattan to L.A.'s
Cathedral Center, Episcopal church sites across the nation opened their
doors this past weekend for prayer and liturgies marking the third
anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

In an effort to assist the healing process, highlights of these memorial
observances -- and those of the past three years -- will soon be added to a
section of the Episcopal News Service Web site
(www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_6129_ENG_HTM.htm) for ongoing reference.

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, preaching Sunday at St. Paul's Cathedral in
London, underscored the importance of compassion as the healing process
continues: "Three years ago, on the fourteenth of September ... our visit to
the scene of the devastation took us by St. Paul's Chapel," he said. "Though
only a block away from the World Trade Center no damage had been done, not
even a pane of glass had been broken ... I knew in that moment that beyond
anything I could think or feel or do there was Another whose compassion and
mercy were able to embrace it all, and that it was only in the power of that
embrace that we, and our world, would be able to find the way forward." The
full text of the sermon can be found online at:
www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_50505_ENG_HTM.htm.

In New York Saturday, St. Paul's Chapel and Trinity Church Wall Street
continued their ministries of hospitality and spiritual support as family
members gathered nearby at Ground Zero for memorial services remembering
those killed when planes were flown into the Twin Towers, causing their
collapse.

The historic chapel of St. Paul, downtown Manhattan's oldest building in
continuous use, commemorated with a Taizi service of remembrance, and
prayers for peace and healing. The service of remembrance paused for a
ringing of the Bell of Hope in the chapel's churchyard at 8:46 a.m., the
time when the first plane hit the World Trade Center towers.

In Washington, D.C., President George W. Bush and Laura Bush attended a
prayer service at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, near the
White House. The church's rector, the Rev. Luis Leon, reportedly told Bush
that "part of his role is to be chaplain to this nation" adding that "hatred
is not the answer" in responding to the terrorist attacks.

A memorial service was also held at the Pentagon and the customary noon
Eucharist at Washington National Cathedral was enhanced to remember the
events of 2001. Durng the sermon, Bishop John Bryson Chane of Washington
insisted that "God didn't desert us or the nation on September 11. God was
there in the ashes and the horror of it all," adding that "God is with us
poking and prodding us to think beyond revenge and war and reminding us in
the tradition of great religions to love one another as God loves us. That
is the only hope for humanity."

In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a Service of Remembrance was held in the field
where Flight 93 crashed three years earlier. Secretary of the Interior Gale
Norton was in attendance, as well as other county, state and federal
officials. The service honored the memory of the 40 passengers and crew
members aboard the flight who died in their successful struggle to prevent
the plane from being flown to Washington D.C.

Meanwhile, at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Oklahoma City, about 50
people sat in circles around three candles, signifying the three years that
have passed since the terror attacks. Participants offered prayers and words
of compassion for the victims of terror.

And in Los Angeles, "9/11: Healing Journeys for Local & Global Justice," a
coordinated series of marches from four points in Los Angeles, converged at
MacArthur Park in the historic Westlake area of the city for music, art and
sacred ritual.
	 The event was sponsored by ICUJP (Interfaith Communities United for
Justice and Peace), of which the Diocese of Los Angeles is a member. Other
sponsoring organizations included All Saints Church, Pasadena; the Institute
for Urban Renewal & Development (IURD), a diocesan institution; Mama's Hot
Tamales Cafi, a restaurant and training facility established by IURD in the
MacArthur Park area; the Regas Institute, founded by former All Saints
rector George Regas; and many other religious and community groups.

Nearby at Pasadena's Hillsides Home for Children, an Episcopal institution
serving at-risk youth and their families, the Lynn Angell Memorial Library
was the scene for quiet remembrance of the dedicated and beloved volunteer
librarian who helped young residents with everything from homework to health
care. Angell and her husband, David -- producer of the popular "Frasier" and
"Wings" television series -- died aboard Flight 11 bound for Los Angeles
from Boston.