wfn.org | [ENS] Out of Deep Waters: Presiding Bishop notes Episcopalians'

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Out of Deep Waters: Presiding Bishop notes Episcopalians' generosity,
compassion on visit to Gulf Coast

By Matthew Davies

[ENS] Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold observed "profligate acts of
generosity" and compassion by Episcopalians in the dioceses of Louisiana
and
Mississippi while visiting hurricane-impacted churches along the Gulf
Coast
and in New Orleans and witnessing local relief operations September
19-20.

During his first visit to the region since Hurricane Katrina made
landfall
August 29, Griswold commented on the incredible faith and determination
of
Gulf Coast Episcopalians, and noted with awe the resiliency and "deep
compassion" of the local community.

"Even the people who've lost everything ... are reaching out beyond
themselves for someone else who may have suffered more deeply," he said.
"It's really an example of God's generosity made incarnate in men and
women,
and this is what gives us so much hope."

Accompanied by his wife, Phoebe Griswold; Robert Radtke, president of
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD); and Barbara Braver, the
Presiding
Bishop's assistant for communications, Griswold visited four churches
and a
relief operations center in Mississippi and five churches in New
Orleans.

Rebuilding community

At St. John's Church in Pascagoula, Griswold was greeted by Bishop
Duncan
Gray III of Mississippi and his wife, Cathy Gray. The church, which
suffered
some water damage from Katrina's storm surge, held a service just five
days
after the hurricane hit.

Bob McDonald, an auto mechanic and teacher in Pascagoula, explained how
he
is trying to put his school -- scheduled to open early October -- back
together. "The big question now is will I have any students," he said.
"And
where am I going to live for the next six months to a year?"

"But I don't want to leave," he added. "I want to help rebuild our
community."

McDonald spoke about the sustenance that Christ has given him in the
Episcopal Church. "It has made a real difference in what I look for
tomorrow," he said. "If I needed help today, I'd go [to the church]
across
the street, but if I need help tomorrow, I'd be at our altar."

St. John's, now a scattered community, has about 60 percent of its
parishioners remaining in Pascagoula.

"I think the most obvious people who are missing are the children, which
is
really sad," said junior warden Terrie Gall. "We have almost 50
acolytes,
but only one turned up last Sunday."

Visibly moved, Gall said that it tears at her heart, "because those
children
are just wonderful and they love serving at the altar; they love this
church
and this community."

Making a difference

At St. John's Church in Ocean Springs, the Rev. Wayne Ray, rector, and
the
Rev. Marcia King, associate rector, are coordinating relief efforts and
hosting volunteers from Texas, Georgia, and the Carolinas. A group of 40
volunteers will soon be arriving from Pennsylvania.

"We're assessing critical needs ... but also working with those who,
once
they're up and running, will be able to help others," said King. "We're
trying to do everything we can to make a difference in people's lives."

Leaving Pascagoula along the coast's Highway 90, Mississippi police
escorted
the group to two churches -- Church of the Redeemer, Biloxi, and St.
Mark's,
Gulfport -- that were destroyed by the hurricane.

One of the few things remaining at the site where Church of the Redeemer
once stood is a memorial to the victims of the 1969 Hurricane Camille
which,
until Katrina, had been the worst hurricane on record to hit the Gulf
Coast..

Redeemer's rector, the Rev. Harold Roberts, also lost his house in the
storm. He is currently residing at the Very Rev. Bo Roberts' house in
Gulfport, which survived relatively unscathed, and worship services are
being held temporarily at North Bay Elementary School in Biloxi.

Built in 1846, St. Mark's is the oldest Episcopal church on the
Mississippi
coast and one of six that were completely destroyed by Katrina.

"Although the church is not standing physically," Bishop Duncan Gray III
of
Mississippi explained, "spiritually the church continues to stand and we
will continue to do the work that God has called us to do."

"We're in good shape," said St. Mark's rector Bo Roberts. "Our
congregation
is excited about new possibilities for their homes and for the growth of
the
church. I didn't want to face a new challenge at this stage in my life,
but
we're walking with somebody else and we'll be okay."
 
Absorbing generosity

Coast Episcopal School, a center for relief efforts in Long Beach, is
operating a medical clinic, distribution center, volunteer shelter and a
donated kitchen under the directorship of the Very Rev. Joe Robinson.

Volunteers at the school are regularly unloading supplies from two or
three
18-wheeler trucks a day, mostly coordinated through Lutheran/Episcopal
Services in Mississippi based in Jackson.

"We also have friends around the country who are sending trucks directly
to
us," Robinson said. "So we're absorbing people's generosity from all
directions."

Jennifer Knight, who established the school's medical center, is an RN
at
Urgent Care of Bay St. Louis and wife of the Rev. David Knight, rector
of
St.. Patrick's Episcopal Church, Long Beach.

"It has grown, thank goodness, with the volunteers who are willing to
donate
their time and energy and leadership," said Knight, also a member of the
Honduras Medical Mission committee of the Diocese of Mississippi. "We
have
groups from Virginia, Indiana and Miami that have just arrived today
that
are rotating doctors and nurses and sending in things almost faster than
we
can order them."

Also contributing to the diocese's relief efforts, an Olympic cooking
team
from California has volunteered its time and energy to ensure that
visitors,
volunteers, medical staff and other relief workers are fed.

Biggest challenges

After a tour of the school's facility, a gathering of coastal clergy and
spouses described some of their experiences from the past three weeks.

The Rev. Chris Colby is rector of Trinity Church, Pass Christian, one of
the
coastal churches that was destroyed. "I have a foundation and the nave
has
one of the structural arches in place with something of a roof
attached," he
said. "Both transepts blew away and there is one cleat on the deck to
show
we ever had a pew."

Eighty percent of the housing is destroyed, Colby explained, "so we're
not
going to have much of a congregation for a couple of years."

The Rev. Paul Stephens, headmaster of Coast Episcopal School, said that
85
percent of his faculty and staff have lost their homes.

"So one of our biggest challenges is just to be able to find a place for
them to live so we can reopen the school," he said. "We don't know if
we'll
have 10 students or 110, but we'll get started and build on what we
have."

Stephens expects the school to reopen on September 30.

"In the meantime, we're just glad to be able to make all these
facilities
available to the church," he added, "and blessed to be able to be the
church
in this community."

Seeing "people showing up to share whatever skills they have or whatever
deep passion they have in their hearts to be in some ways part of
someone
else's suffering ... reveals what it means to be the body of Christ,"
Griswold said.

Bishop George Packard, bishop suffragan for chaplaincies, has ensured
that
military and civilian emergency response chaplains are deployed to
locations
in the Gulf Coast. He noted that relief efforts at Coast Episcopal
School
were much more advanced than usual for this stage after a disaster.

"We're bewildered how quickly you have gotten to this location," he
said.
"You're supposed to be in early recovery, but you're moving far beyond
that
with some speed."

Packard recently offered a program for clergy and spouses in the Diocese
of
Louisiana, helping them understand the various stages of a disaster and
the
way in which they need to be caring for themselves as well as caring for
their congregations.

Griswold also expressed his concerns about people who have sustained
there
own loss and trying to be available to others. "I hope you'll be gentle
with
yourselves," he said. "You have to give yourself permission to take time
off, even though there is more that you could be doing." 

Entering New Orleans

After visiting Baton Rouge, where the Diocese of Louisiana has
temporarily
relocated its offices, Bishop Charles Jenkins of Louisiana led a team
into
New Orleans September 20 to visit Episcopal churches previously
inaccessible
due to the city's flooding.

He observed that vast parts of the city looked like they had been under
eight to ten feet of water for weeks, "so I wonder about the future
viability of those neighborhoods," he said.

With approximately 20 percent of the city still under water, some of New
Orleans' Episcopal churches remain inaccessible.

A group of military chaplains greeted Jenkins and Griswold as they
arrived
at Church of the Annunciation on South Claiborne Avenue, which was under
about six feet of water for almost two weeks.

"We have people who don't have cell phones, don't have savings accounts
or
credit cards," explained Jerome Kramer, rector. "We found some families
through the internet and we're having a Bible study online. We have a
chat
room set up as it's so important for people to be able to chat with each
other right now and see each other's faces."

Rector of Annunciation for just eight months, Kramer said he wasn't sure
why
God had called him there. "Now we're finding out," he said. "So we're
going
to rebuild God's church and God's people and get back to work."

He hopes to have a portable building erected in New Orleans as soon as
possible to help restore services to the community.

Major Ira C. Houck, an Episcopal Church army chaplain, explained that
all
denominations in the army are working together. "We have a rabbi,
Catholic
priests, Orthodox, Presbyterians," he said, "all working together for
the
common good and under the headship of one."

Major Will Laigaie, chaplain for the 82nd Airborne division, said,
"We're
caring for the poorest of the poor. All those who had means escaped and
so
we're glad to focus on those who really could not help themselves."

Griswold thanked the chaplains for their ministries under such difficult
circumstances and offered a prayer:

Lord God of the universe, creator and sustainer of all life, Grant us
the
serenity to respond to disaster in bold faith, Seeking not certainty but
rather the assurance of your abiding presence, Grant us hope when we
spiral
into despair, And fill our broken hearts with love with which you
surround
us, As we rebuild, guide each hammer and nail with a ring of hope, Bless
each bandage and conversation with a balm of healing, And strengthen
each
resolve with a blessed assurance that all manner of things shall be
well.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Christ Church Cathedral, which will celebrate its two hundredth
anniversary
in November, experienced only minor roof and water damage from the
hurricane
as the avenue on which the cathedral stands did not flood. The Very Rev.
David duPlantier, the Cathedral's dean, greeted Griswold and offered him
a
tour of the building.

At St. Luke's Church on North Dorgenois Street, Griswold helped senior
warden Elvia James move fallen branches from the front of the church. As
James entered the church for the first time since the city was evacuated
she
gasped a sigh of relief, discovering that the damage was
much less than she had anticipated.

At the high altar, James found the lectionary open at August 28, two
days
before the city flooded, and the tabernacle full of hosts -- communion
was
received by all.

"One of the wonderful things was that the ciborium was full, so one had
a
sense that in the midst of this terrible desolation and devastation, the
abundance of God's presence sacramentally fed us and gave us immense
courage
and hope," Griswold said.

At St. Paul's Church on Canal Boulevard, the water marks were easily
eight
feet high and opened windows suggested that some uninvited guests may
have
paid a visit. The church was still locked so the full extent of the
damage
would have to wait to be seen another day.

One of the few new churches to be built in New Orleans in recent years,
Church of the Holy Comforter on Lakeshore Drive, experienced only light
damage to the roof tiling. A generator is expected to arrive this week
to
power air conditioning in order to keep the humidity down and prevent
more
mold forming on the walls and ceiling.

Focused on the future

Speaking from Holy Comforter, Griswold explained that such experiences
"teach us how fragile life is, how vulnerable we are and how much we
depend
on the things around us."

"But when all is stripped away, the gift of life, the gift of community,
the
gift of compassion -- those are the things that really instill us with
hope
and give us confidence for the future," he added.

Seeing the extent of damage to people's houses, church structures and
the
collapse of the economic structures in many communities, Griswold
recognized
that there is an impulse on the part of many people to offer help in the
short term.

"But it's clear to me that this is a very long term situation," he said,
encouraging people to stay close to these communities, parishes and
dioceses
for monthsand years to come.

Through Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), Jenkins explained,
"we'll be
present in these communities in long term ways. We're present now in
short
term ways -- we're doing feeding ministry, we're distributing water and
supplies to speak to the necessities of life, but through ERD we'll be
here
for development."

It was ERD president Robert Radtke's second visit to the Gulf Coast in
three
weeks and one which gave him a deeper impression of the physical damage
from
the storm and the enormous task ahead in rebuilding the affected church
communities.

Acknowledging the "wonderful work and ministry" of Episcopalians in
Mississippi and Louisiana, Radtke said, "I am in awe of people's ability
to
focus on the future, especially given the deep personal crises many of
the
clergy have experienced. It truly is a heroic ministry."

ERD's vice president for program, Abagail Nelson, will return to the
Gulf
Coast September 26 to continue with programmatic assessment and help to
develop plans. ERD expects to partner with local dioceses for three to
five
years.

Jenkins spoke about his own responsibility in helping to rebuild New
Orleans
and in reminding the civic and governmental leaders of a high calling.

"We don't need to rebuild what was here, because there were some very
sick
things here," he said. "We've seen the horror and the shame of the
poverty
and the racism in this city and of the gross economic system of the very
wealthy and the very poor. The role of the church and for me is a
prophetic
role and it's calling the powers that be to a higher vision for the
future."

Jenkins also asked for people to be patient.

"Every person on my staff is displaced, most of us are homeless, we are
having a struggle to take care of ourselves and there will obviously be
a
time very soon when we can use the hands and the feet and the backs of
others to help us dig out of this muck," he said. "But right now we need
your prayers, we need your patience, we need your continuing gifts.
We're
showing up, we're holding on and we're doing our best."

-- Matthew Davies is international correspondent / multimedia manager
for
the Episcopal News Service.

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