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| Episcopal Diocesan Digest: Special Hurricane Relief Edition | |||||||
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ALABAMA: Alabama deacons help organize relief efforts ALABAMA: Alabama deacons help organize relief efforts [SOURCE: Diocese of Alabama] The Rev. Deacon Forrest DeBuys at All Saints, Birmingham, is coordinating trucking of requested items on the wish list for the Diocese of Mississippi. Deacons Stan Easton and Bruce Drube are working with Episcopal parishes in the Anniston area in support of the transitional housing shelter being established at the old Fort McClellan. ARKANSAS: Small-town parish helps with evacuees [SOURCE: Episcopal Relief and Development website] Deacon Gene Crawford of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Crossett writes that as many as 75 evacuees have moved into the town of 6,000. Crossett is 360 miles from the Gulf Coast, just across the Louisiana border and a five or six hour drive from New Orleans or Biloxi under normal circumstances. Churches have responded and the whole town is working together. More than $4,500 in donations have been distributed, mostly in the form of cash and gift certificates from local stores. Groups have been serving meals to evacuees and local pharmacists are filing prescriptions for free. "We are only putting a band-aid on a broken leg," Crawford writes. "We hope that at least we are providing some solace for the time being." LOS ANGELES: Leaders to meet on coordinating response [SOURCE: Diocese of Los Angeles] Clergy and lay leaders of congregations in the Diocese of Los Angeles will get a briefing with officials of the city and county of Los Angeles and Lutheran clergy and leaders on Monday, September 19, at the Cathedral Center of St. Paul. At the meeting, which will be hosted by Bishop J. Jon Bruno and Bishop Dean Nelson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ECLA) synod, plans and resources for relief for evacuees from the hurricane Katrina area will be discussed, including housing, food, school and employment issues. Additionally, more than 100 beds have been made available throughout the diocese for those who are being evacuated to California, said Canon Lydia Lopez. The bishops are also offering a place for rest and respite for clergy who have been working in the devastated areas at the Cathedral Retreat Center in Los Angeles. They are also asking for donations of frequent flier miles to help those in need of air transportation. Meanwhile, disaster relief efforts continue throughout the diocese, with Episcopalians opening their hearts and their homes to evacuees from Louisiana and elsewhere. They include: All Saints, Beverly Hills, has raised more than $50,000, and the parish continues to raise money to be channeled through Episcopal Relief and Development to help continuing relief efforts. Plans are also in the works for such program as adopting churches or adopting families to building houses, said the Rev. Jimmy Bartz, associate at All Saints. The church also hosted a prayer service on September 7 that drew 200 and has donated money directly to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas Hurricane Relief Fund to help out with the evacuees in Houston. Campbell Hall School, North Hollywood, is hosting three students displaced by the hurricane. A Campbell Hall family is hosting the family of two of the displaced students who evacuated. All Saints, Beverly Hills, is working in partnership with the school in this effort. In addition, the school is working with several shelters in rural Louisiana whom, according to headmaster Julian Bull, the American Red Cross is not assisting. Through their efforts, tractor- trailers and temporary housing are being made available as efforts continue over the long-term. All Saints, Pasadena, plans an emergency relief garage sale for Saturday. Bishop Bruno has donated old furniture to the sale. The parish has already raised more than $140,000 for hurricane relief and continues to raise money, said Mark Ziolkowski, administrative assistant in peace and justice. The congregation is also offering housing and is suggesting those interested in volunteering in Gulf Coast states attend a Red Cross training this Friday and Saturday at Azusa Pacific University. The Rev. Ed Bacon, rector, traveled to Baton Rouge to assess how the parish could assist those affected. EAST TENNESSEE: ERD helps diocese welcome displaced people [SOURCE: Episcopal Relief and Development website] Episcopal Relief and Development has partnered with the Diocese of East Tennessee to help relocate displaced people from Louisiana and Mississippi. The assistance will provide food for families in Roane County, a rural area near Knoxville. At least 250 families, or an estimated 1,000 people, are expected. The effort will be coordinated by St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Harriman. "Along with countless others, I am grateful for the responsiveness of Episcopal Relief and Development and for the compassionate ministry of relief that your organization offers to those in need," said Bishop Charles G. von Rosenberg of East Tennessee. LOUISIANA: Clergy and spouses get chaplaincy help [SOURCE: Diocese of Louisiana] A Day of Reflection and Preparation for all clergy and spouses is planned for Friday, September 16, at St. Margaret's, Baton Rouge. The day will be led by Diocesan Bishop Charles Jenkins and George Packard, Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies, and a team organized by Bishop Packard. The aim of the program is to give clergy and their spouses a place to come with their own concerns and feelings about the impact Katrina has had on their lives and the lives of their parishioners. Clergy are required to attend the program. Meanwhile, St. Alban's Chapel on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge is collecting school supplies to give to hurricane-hit students who are now enrolling at the school. There are some 10,000 new students from the surrounding university and colleges who are trying to make a home in Baton Rouge. Students may stop by the chapel during regular offices hours to pick up what they need. MISSISSIPPI: Bishop cancels Special Diocesan Council meeting [SOURCE: Diocese of Mississippi] Bishop Duncan M. Gray, III, of Mississippi told clergy and delegates to the 179th Annual Council that "the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina and the unprecedented challenges presented to us and our church family on the Gulf Coast" require him to rescind his call for a Special Diocesan Council, originally scheduled for October 1 in Vicksburg. The meeting was to address the issues raised by the Windsor Report. "My commitment to address the presenting issues in our common life remains," Gray wrote, adding that he is committed to having the "necessary conversations" in the regular gathering of the Diocesan Council in February 2006 in Southaven. NEW YORK: Benefit concert planned The Jubilee Youth Chorale at Episcopal Church of Our Savior in Chinatown will present the program they recently performed in China during a benefit concert Sunday, September 25, at 4pm. All of the money raised from this concert will go toward the Louisiana and Mississippi Hurricane Relief fund established by Bishop Mark Sisk of New York. The choristers have just returned from a concert-tour to China, having sung in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou for audiences in the thousands. Tickets are $20 per person. Donations are greatly appreciated and will be collected on an ongoing basis. For more information, please call 212.233.2899. The church is located at 48 Henry Street. TEXAS: Diocese and parishes come together to help evacuees [SOURCE: Diocese of Texas] Richard Parkins of Episcopal Migration Ministries was in the diocese this week to educate about resettlement issues. While many congregations are doing this locally in the short term, there will no doubt be a long-term need. Parkins met with people at All Saints in Austin, Christ Church in Tyler, and Trinity in Houston. Parishes were asked to send at least one congregational representative to one of the meetings. A service in response to the call by President George W. Bush for a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of Hurricane Katrina will be held at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, at noon on Friday. The service will include prayers, hymns, scripture reading, and a homily by Bishop Don A. Wimberly of Texas. Following the prayer service, there will be a celebration of Holy Communion, for those who wish to participate. Parishes all across the diocese have taken on the mission of hurricane relief. Here is a sampling of their ministries. Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Austin, opened its Resurrection Thrift Shop to a family evacuated from New Orleans who arrived in Austin to stay with family. Several members of ECR have also worked with a young man, now staying in Austin with his father, and who evacuated New Orleans after four days at the Superdome, to help him find employment, and to help meet his material and spiritual needs. ECR is working with Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) to provide clothing for refugees and evacuees through the Resurrection Thrift Shop, and has agreed to house an office of EMM on the ECR campus. St. Mark's, Bay City, is helping to feed 150 evacuees at First Baptist Church in Bay City. St. Mark's, Beaumont, has joined with Spindletop Unitarian Church of Beaumont to provide 500 brown bag breakfasts every Tuesday morning for the residents of a shelter at Ford Park. The ECW resale shop, Treasure House, is providing three changes of clothing to anyone with Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama identification. The church is collecting hygiene kits, books and school supplies. ECW is funding prescriptions for evacuees. St. Stephen's, Beaumont, is adopting families whose children are entering Beaumont school by providing backpacks, school supplies and clothing; supplying many volunteers at the largest shelter, which houses 1500 people. St. Peter's, Brenham, adopted a family from New Orleans who are friends of organist Linda Patterson. Epiphany, Burnet, has a counseling center at the church with a licensed counselor a couple of days a week and has expanded the community food bank. Seminarian Bonnie Edwards has been serving as a chaplain at the Austin convention center evacuee site. St. James, Conroe, is supporting the local Red Cross shelter at First United Methodist Church helping with bedding, toiletries and $1,150 in gift cards. Parishioners provide meals, sort clothes and baby-sit. The soup kitchen team helps feed the evacuees flocking to the local Salvation Army facility. Two parishioners are board members of the Montgomery County Emergency Assistance/Housing Authority, and are collecting furniture and household furnishings for families moving into permanent housing in the area. Holy Trinity, Dickinson, was a drop off point for clothing donated to the local shelters. Church members sorted the clothes by size and gender and then took it to the shelter for distribution. They also delivered meals provided by the school district to evacuees still in area hotels and have staffed local food pantries. A special collection was sent to Christ Church in Prairieville, Louisiana. Holy Trinity hosted their youth mission trip in June and as a result, developed a close relationship with this church. Christ Church has adopted a number of families from Chalmette, Louisiana. Christ the King, Houston, delivered food and non-food items to the Second Baptist Church, Houston. A second offering each Sunday in September will be contributed to feeding evacuees. Epiphany, Houston, sent volunteers to the Astrodome and collected supplies for the evacuees. Palmer Memorial, Houston, has served more than 2,056 meals to people at the church and in motels near the Astrodome. Trinity, Houston, is housing for 30 AmeriCorp volunteers. St. Dunstan's, Houston, provided sack lunches for people staying at a nearby Holiday Inn, as well as providing them with a hot meal at the church. St. George's and St. Patrick's, Houston, is hosting a Rainbow Concert on Saturday, September 17 at the church to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims. St. Luke the Evangelist, Houston, distributed clothing to Salvation Army, and food to the Houston Food Bank. The parish is providing support for one evacuee family living in the guest apartment of the rectory. St. Peter's, Lago Vista, is supporting an elementary school in Galena Park, which has been "inundated" with refugee children by sending school supplies and toiletry items. St. Michael's, La Marque, "adopted" a shelter in Hitchcock where there will be up to 120 individuals housed. The church delivered a shipment of underwear, socks, toiletries, vitamins, towels, toys for the children and food and will provide a weekly meal and an ongoing supply of snacks. St. Mary's, Lampasas, is helping three family members of a parishioner who were displaced with a rented home in Lampasas. They will furnish household goods as needed. A parishioner who owns Perks Coffee Bar in Lampasas is receiving donations from patrons for Episcopal Relief and Development. Christ Church, Nacogdoches, and its school purchased 90 new backpacks distributed to children of evacuees who started school locally. The parish is a collection center for furniture, house wares, cooking utensils, TVs, and other things to give to families setting up in area apartments. They are using a newly purchased church van to pick up evacuees at area Red Cross shelters and take them to local laundromats to do their wash and transporting shelter residents to the high school gym for showering. St. Thomas School, Naussa Bay, students collected hundreds of water bottles for the Red Cross and collected white polo shirts and khaki pants and shorts for many of the 400 students who were placed at Fondren Middle School. St. Thomas School welcomed four new families to the school from Louisiana and is currently collecting gift cards at local retailers and grocers to give to those families and others who lost everything in the hurricane. St. Paul's, Orange, held a baby shower for an expectant mother who lost all her baby items in the storm. The vestry donated money to the local Red Cross and the Salvation Army, provided volunteers for the local evacuation centers and served meals. The parish organized a calling committee that contacts each church member with a list of needs. Holy Trinity, Pt. Neches, collected supplies for three Orange County shelters and cooking/serving meals as requested by the shelters. St. Paul's, Waco, is helping to clean and paint FEMA appropriated apartments for evacuees. They have five apartments for the five families they are helping. The congregation is collecting necessary items to set up a household as well. Trinity, The Woodlands, is assisting many displaced persons in the Spring/Woodlands area with gas cards and clothing/food cards. The parish has adopted the residents of a local motel with teams of two parishioners assigned to each displaced family. Pastoral care is offered. Trinity is also working closely with the parish families who have loved ones or other survivors living with them. Youth are hosting pizza suppers and they plan an intergenerational mission trip to Hammond, Louisiana, in the future. Clergy and lay representatives are working with ecumenical groups in the area to prevent duplication of effort. Community of Hope chaplains are serving at the George R. Brown shelter and locally. Nurses and doctors from the parish are volunteering at Conroe shelters. The ECW continues to assemble hygiene kits as well as household cleaning kits for those moving into apartments. The church has 18 volunteers who have trained for Operation Compassion. Fourth grade students at Holy Spirit Episcopal School, Houston, collected "Pennies for Hope for the Gulf Coast" during carpool and at lunch on September 7 for the Episcopal Church's Relief Fund and the Red Cross. WESTERN KANSAS: Vulnerable children and adults relocated [SOURCE: Episcopal Relief and Development website] Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damage to the roof and foundation of the St. Francis Academy facilities in Pascagoula and Picayune. St. Francis Academy Inc. is an Episcopal child welfare ministry serving 700 clients in seven states, including Kansas. At-risk youth and developmentally disabled adults were evacuated from facilities in Mississippi to St. Francis' operation in Salina, Kansas, and to apartments loaned to the academy by the people of Halstead, Kansas. ERD's support is helping transfer the evacuees to facilities in Kansas and provide the displaced youth and adults with food, shelter, school supplies, and other specialized services. "It will be a long time before power and safe drinking water are restored," said the Very Rev. Edward Fellhauer, dean and president of St. Francis, in a statement on the academy's Web site. "The Coast is not a place for them to stay at this time. We are grateful to have the option and ability to bring them to Kansas." WESTERN LOUISIANA: Diocesan Convention Shortened [SOURCE: Diocese of Western Louisiana] Bishop Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana told the diocese this week that he has decided to shorten the annual convention to one day. "Over these past days I have, as I know many of you have, given much thought and prayer to the days ahead," the bishop wrote in his September 12 letter. "One of the things that has been heavy on my heart is that we seek to be good stewards in the midst of that which has taken place." The diocese was scheduled to meet on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29, at St. James Parish, Alexandria. Friday night's dinner was to cost $30.00 per person and would have required many people to stay overnight in a hotel. MacPherson said he was concerned about people incurring that expense and whether hotel rooms would even be available then. Many hurricane evacuees are living in the diocese. The Rt. Rev. John B. Lipscomb, former priest of the diocese and present Bishop of Southwest Florida, will preach at the opening Eucharist. |
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