wfn.org | ELCA Bishops Hear Thanks From Florida-Bahamas Synod

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 13, 2004

ELCA Bishops Hear Thanks From Florida-Bahamas Synod
04-193-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In the wake of four hurricanes that caused many
deaths and injuries and billions of dollars in property damage in the
Caribbean and Florida, a synod bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) thanked the church and his colleagues for their support
and financial gifts.
     The Rev. Edward R. Benoway, bishop of the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod,
Tampa, said there was "hardly a congregation that escaped damage from at
least one of these storms," in remarks to the ELCA Conference of Bishops.
Most ELCA congregations in the synod were unable to hold services on at
least two Sundays because of the storms, he said.
     The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the church
consisting of the church's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and
secretary. It met here Sept. 30-Oct. 4.
     The storms -- Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Ivan
and Hurricane Jeanne -- struck the Caribbean and Florida in successive
weeks in August and September.	U.S. government weather forecasters said
Florida has never before been hit by four hurricanes in one season.
     Lutheran Services Florida, Tampa, is the local agency coordinating
disaster response in partnership with Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), a
ministry of the ELCA (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Benoway
said.  LDR funds are being used for "unmet needs," Benoway said.
     Through late September, ELCA members, congregations and synods had
sent more than $300,000 to the ELCA in response to the hurricanes and
storms since mid-summer.
     Insurance deductibles of 3 percent, apparently part of many policies,
are "shocking" to members and congregations who must repair or rebuild in
the wake of the powerful storms, Benoway said.	Congregations have been
helpful to people who must complete complicated paperwork to make claims
or seek disaster assistance, he said.
     "A ministry we found right away is that the churches need to help
people fill out forms," Benoway said.  "It's a must."  Synod congregations
have been looking for people specifically for that task, he said.
     In Haiti, where flooding from the storms killed hundreds and left
many more without homes, Benoway said ELCA International Disaster Response
has been providing help.  "It's an incredibly desperate situation there,"
Benoway said, adding that the situation in Haiti has helped him keep in
"perspective" the relatively minor damage to his own home.
     "We have experienced our 'interrelatedness' in response to the
hurricanes," the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, told the
Conference of Bishops.	"Beneath their weariness, I have heard their
profound gratitude for our interrelatedness."
     Members of the Conference of Bishops contributed $3,050 in offerings
for disaster response at a worship service during their meeting.  The
offerings were designated for Haiti, through ELCA International Disaster
Response, and for the Florida-Bahamas Synod through ELCA Domestic Disaster
Response, said the Rev. Kathie Bender Schwich, director of the ELCA
Department for Synodical Relations.
     Hanson and Benoway will be together at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church,
Tampa, Oct. 26 to meet with pastors and lay leaders in the Florida-Bahamas
Synod.	The Lutheran leaders will engage in worship and reflection,
Benoway said in a Sept. 23 letter to professional church leaders in the
synod.
     "In the midst of the rebuilding efforts and ministries to rebuild
lives, homes and communities, I think it is good for our leaders to be
together for mutual support, care and spiritual enrichment," Benoway
wrote.
---
     Information about ELCA and Lutheran Disaster Response is at
http://www.elca.org/disaster on the ELCA Web site.  Information about the
storms' impact on the Florida-Bahamas Synod is at http://www.fbsynod.org
on the Web.

DOMESTIC DISASTERS:
Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds to aid 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, Illinois
60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via Internet: http://www.elca.org/disaster

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news