April 13, 2011

CHICAGO – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) through Lutheran Disaster Response, sent a $10,000 emergency grant to Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota for immediate response to the flooding along the Red River and its tributaries.

Lutheran Disaster Response is a collaborative ministry of the ELCA and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

During the past weekend, the Red River crested at Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., at 38.75 feet, about two feet short of the record level set in 2009, said the Rev. Kevin Massey, director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response and Lutheran Disaster Response. Levees protected both cities from widespread flooding.

In rural areas north and south of Fargo/Moorhead, overland flooding of fields, roads and homes has reached unprecedented levels, Massey said. To the north, other communities are likely to see the river's crest in the next week or two, with a possibility of record-setting water levels. Unlike many other rivers, the Red River flows north.

"A lot of times in this kind of flood, people think about the bigger cities," said the Rev. William E. Rindy, bishop of the Eastern North Dakota Synod, Fargo. "The rural folks are easily forgotten in this kind of flooding."

For that reason, Massey said Lutheran Disaster Response will concentrate its work its efforts on assessing and serving the needs of people who live in rural areas. The effect of the flood on rural communities could be of historic proportions, he said.

Olivet Lutheran Church, Fargo, is preparing meals for and taking them to first responders, such as state police, National Guard and emergency medical personnel, Massey said. In previous years, Olivet has provided meals to people working to prevent flooding or helping to clean up.

"This is a terrific ministry of that church," Massey said. "It's amazing how appreciative the folks are."

Massey said Lutheran Disaster Response personnel participated in training volunteer cleanup team supervisors April 12 in Fargo.

At least three congregations in the ELCA Eastern North Dakota Synod are surrounded by flood water, and members may not able to reach the church buildings for worship. They are Herby Lutheran Church, Argusville; Maple Sheyenne Lutheran Church, Harwood; and Leeds Lutheran Church, Leeds. In parts of North Dakota, all four lanes of Interstate 29 were flooded.

The Rev. Roger G. Reinhart, pastor of a two-point parish south of Fargo, said members will hold worship at Our Savior Lutheran Church, Colfax, because the other congregation in the parish, Richland Lutheran Church, Wolcott, is inaccessible because of flooding.

In the Northwestern Minnesota Synod, some ELCA congregations and the towns they are in have been isolated by high water from the Red River and its tributaries. They may not be able to hold worship services for a few weeks, said the Rev. Larry Wohlrabe, bishop. They include ELCA congregations in and around Perley, Gardner (N.D.), Hendrum, Halstad, Shelly, Niellsville, Cumings (N.D.), Climax, East Grand Forks and Oslo, he said.

The synod is asking for prayers for affected congregations and will help congregations that are not able to have worship services, Wohlrabe said.

Information about flooding along the Red River Valley, including information about how to give to ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, is at http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/, on the ELCA website.

ELCA News Service