September 23, 2005
By Mary Frances Schjonberg

The congregation and staff are scattered. There's a hole in the roof above the altar. Rain damaged the new plaster and paint from last year's restoration.

Trees are down. The electrical area of the cathedral was once flooded. The humidity was threatening the organs, the pianos and the harpsichord until a generator could be installed to run the air conditioning.

The valuable artworks have been evacuated. The Prayer Books, Hymnals, and the entire Music Library are in cold storage to prevent them from getting moldy.

And the home page of Christ Church Cathedral New Orleans' website proclaims: "Christ Church Cathedral begins her third century facing the greatest opportunity for ministry in our history."

The Very Rev. David S. duPlantier said this week that the immediate ministry of the cathedral was to serve the parishioners and other staff members scattered all over the country. The priority at this point, he said, is dealing with those who are suffering.

The cathedral staff, working from temporary offices at St. James Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, began to be in touch with people and give what help they could. Among the means they used was to set up an email link on its website for people to check in with the cathedral. Its address, whereyat@cccnola.org, evokes the traditional New Orleans greeting, "Whereyaat?"

The staff is doing the pastoral work of a parish, such as helping a parishioner who evacuated to Washington, D.C. find out about the fate of her mother who was in a nursing home in the New Orleans area.

DuPlantier learned of the cathedral parish's first Katrina-related causality on Wednesday. William Webster "Web" Deadman, Jr., 72, died this week after hitting his head while being rescued from his home.

The staff connected two of its members with Episcopal clergy in the towns where they found themselves. "They have taken them in as if they were one of their own," duPlantier said.

"We've seen some of the best of what the church stands for," he said.

That kind of help, plus the provision of office space and, in some cases, housing for six of his staff members in Baton Rouge, and the prayers that have come in from all corners of the Episcopal Church have been "most vivid examples of shared and partnered ministry," he said.

The cooperation across the denomination is heartening, duPlantier added "We haven't seen so much of that in the last three years," he said.

The liturgical life of the cathedral has continued, albeit not within the walls of the building. The dean celebrated Holy Eucharist and offered a healing service on Thursday in the chapel of St. James. Thursday was the feast of Blessed Philander Chase, the founding rector of Christ Church.

While the work of the cathedral has continued even if the cathedral can't be used, there was a vivid example of the importance of sacred space earlier this week. LTC Kurt Ryan, a battalion commander with the 82d Airborne Division currently deployed in New Orleans, stopped by the cathedral while duPlantier and the Rev. Canon Steven Roberts were there Tuesday. He wondered whether there could be a celebration of Holy Eucharist his soldiers and anyone else who could attend.

While Eucharist could have been celebrated anywhere, duPlantier said, "I think they were excited about the prospect of having a real sanctuary."

DuPlantier had hoped to be able to get back into the cathedral on Friday to offer that Eucharist but he had to change plans because of Hurricane Rita. He and musicians Irvin Mayfield and Ron Markham went insteadto meet the soldiers at the Naval Air Station in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, south of New Orleans.

Meanwhile, the cathedral is also looking at how it can serve its Garden District neighborhood and the city as a whole. He said the cathedral is easy to get to and has the space to be a resource to the city. It wants to "be able to serve those who are coming back to the city," duPlantier said, whenever that might occur.

A message from duPlantier posted on the cathedral's website Wednesday outlined those plans. "For the foreseeable future, we will likely be hosting displaced worshipping communities and staff members at the Cathedral. We will create temporary office space and offer slots on Sunday for our neighboring congregations to worship," he wrote. "We are also exploring the possibility of using Stuart Hall as a distribution center for donated goods for our surrounding community."

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.