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Network Dioceses and Churches Continuing Hurricane Relief Efforts
Six months after America’s worst natural disaster, Anglican Communion Network (ACN) dioceses and parishes are still responding to the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita by raising funds, sending short-term clean-up teams, and collecting truckloads of supplies, food and clothing.
The Rev. Marcia King, a May 2004 graduate of Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA, had no way of knowing that her posting to a medium-sized parish in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, would land her in the eye of a hurricane such a short time into her ordained ministry. St. John’s Episcopal Church, where King serves as Assistant Rector, miraculously survived with only roof damage, while the surrounding town was hard hit. “The first call I received once the phones were functioning again was from the Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, (Chief Operating Officer for the Anglican Communion Network) asking me how I was, what I needed and how he could wire $15,000 down to us for relief efforts,” said Rev. King.
A group of 67 people from Trinity Seminary and St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church from the Diocese of Pittsburgh were among the first to go to Ocean Springs last October. Another team of 15 from the Diocese of Pittsburgh is going down in early April led by the Rev. Deb Carr, a member of the Family Life Task Force of the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) who is sponsoring the trip.
The Falls Church (Episcopal), a large Network congregation located in Northern Virginia, sent two truckloads of food and cleaning supplies to the Gulf Coast and raised $10,000 for 365 winter coats for school children in Pass Christian last fall. Then, in December, a mission team of 20, led by the Rev. Ramsey Gilchrist, went down to Slidell, Louisiana where they were hosted by the First Baptist Church of Slidell. “The folks of Slidell didn’t want a handout, just a helping hand,” said Rev. Ramsey. “While our work the entire week was only a teaspoonful of help in an ocean of need, everything the team did made a difference in bringing hope to the victims of this tragedy.”
Partnering with other Virginia Network parishes like All Saints Episcopal, Dale City, The Falls Church is presently collecting 325 shoe boxes filled with toys and school supplies that will be shipped to Pass Christian in time for Easter. In addition, $80,000 has been raised and two more mission teams scheduled to return to Slidell and Pass Christian in 2006. The team will build two houses for families they have “adopted” through an organization based in Jackson, Mississippi called HANDS (Helping Americans in Need of Disaster Support) established by Congressman Chip and Mrs. Leshea Pickering, who were members of the Falls Church until 2002 when they returned to Mississippi.
Another large Network parish, St. James Church in Newport Beach, California, raised $50,000 for relief in the first few weeks after the storm hit, have sent two large shipments laden with supplies and “Mercy Kits” made by parishioners, and have sent a total of seven volunteer mission teams down to Baton Rouge and New Orleans already and have two more teams preparing to go this spring. Network parishes like The Falls Church and St. James Newport Beach continue to be role models for what the local church is capable of doing in relief efforts.
The longer-term effects of the disaster are affecting areas like the ACN Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, who received hundreds of displaced people immediately after the storms, many of whom are permanently relocating. Churches like All Saint’s and St. Andrews Episcopal Churches in Fort Worth provided meals and conducted church services for those staying at nearby hotels. In addition, folks like Ben and Deacon Ann Richards drove rental trucks filled with food and supplies down for the residents of Biloxi, Mississippi. The issue was close to home for the Richards who had previously served at Church of the Redeemer in Biloxi when it was hit by a hurricane a few years ago.
In addition to funds raised by its affiliates, the Anglican Communion Network has raised $193,000 for hurricane relief and is continuing to coordinate mission relief efforts through its ten Network dioceses and seven convocations. “We don’t want to just coordinate an institutional financial response. We want each local parish to participate in this ecumenical mission work at the grassroots level,” said Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the Network and Bishop of Pittsburgh. “The Network’s motto ‘Biblical, Missionary, United’ means nothing if we are not doing everything we can to encourage our affiliates to work together to continue to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the thousands of hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast, and we are proud of so many churches that have responded so well.”