Hurricane Information
Posted from the Sun Hearld 09/05/05
"The Lord is my shepard"
At St Peter's by-the-Sea Episcopal Church the stained-glass window of the patron saint survived unscathed. The building was destroyed. The reunion Sunday was sweet for members of the 103-year congregation.They hugged, wept a little and laughed. They stepped over upturned nails,squeezed around clanging steel studs and gathered near the kneeling rail that remained firmly bolted to the foundation. They recited the 23rd Psalm: "The Lord is my shepard. I shall not want." ------ Phil Long, Knight Ridder/Miami Hearld
A statement from Bishop Gray:
Hurricane Katrina
Our state has experienced a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions. Long time residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast have noted that the damage and facilities from the storm will far exceed that of Hurricane Camille in 1969. Thousands have lost their homes and those holy places of worship to which they have instinctively gone in times of crisis. Unconfirmed reports have indicated that at least six Episcopal Churches have been totally destroyed with serious damage to many others. It is a time of deep shock and grief and tears. And it is a time of hope. Hundreds of Episcopalians from throughout this country have called offering help in many forms. Episcopal Relief and Development has provided immediate financial assistance. Our short and long term relief efforts will be coordinated through our newly formed Lutheran-Episcopal Services of Mississippi. Relief staging areas are being set up at Ascension Lutheran in Jackson and Church of the Ascension (Episcopal) in Hattiesburg. And yet there is a deeper foundation of hope. As Christians, we understand the power of death. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina brings us face to face with the reality of death and the despair when hope seems crushed. But we are a people of both the Cross and the Resurrection. The last word from God is not death, but life. God uses the open hearts, minds and lives of faithful souls to renew, restore and redeem that which seems beyond hope. We will work hand in hand with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild their homes and their churches. We will walk with them as bearers of hope through the work of our Crucified Lord. He has borne our grief, brought our sorrows into His heart and has become for us the vehicle and means for life and hope.
We are His witnesses. We shall be faithful.
Status of Coastal Churches
5:00 p.m. 09.02.05:
STRUCTURES LOST :
St. Peter's, Gulfport
St. Mark's, Gulfport
Redeemer, Biloxi
Christ, Bay St. Louis
Trinity, Pass Christian
St. Patrick's, Long Beach
STRUCTURES INTACT:
St. Stephen's, Columbia
St. Thomas, Diamondhead
St. Pierre's, Gautier
Mediator/Redeemer, McComb/Magnolia
St. John's, Ocean Springs
St. John's, Pascagoula
St. Paul's, Picayune
Photographs accompanying this article can be found online at:
[ENS, Gulfport, Mississippi] Surrounded by scenes of devastation left
behind by Hurricane Katrina, more than 50 parishioners of St. Mark's
Church in Gulfport, Mississippi, were joined by police, military and
relief workers September 4, as they worshipped on the site where their
church once stood -- a testimony to their strength and determination to move
forward.
"You are St. Mark's Church," said the Very Rev. James Bo Roberts,
rector, as he addressed the congregation. "You are the spirit of St. Mark's
Church. It's you who have to stand for Jesus. It's you who will bring
us back as we once were."
Built in 1846, St. Mark's is the oldest Episcopal church on the
Mississippi coast and one of six that were completely destroyed after Katrina
hit August 29.
"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."
Despite the dangers involved, Roberts remained in his Gulfport rectory
as Katrina pounded the coast, "because it's difficult to gain access to
the area afterwards," he said. "I wanted to be where I could check on
my people and be available to them."
Roberts' house in Gulfport is about 20 feet above sea level, yet the
water, he said, came right up to the door.
"It's time for us to reach out to one another; to try and renew our
faith, increase our strength and our relation to God," he added. "Walking
in the presence of Christ, we'll be able to recover from the ruins that
we find ourselves in today."
It is Roberts' second hurricane as rector of St. Mark's. He had lived
in Gulfport for only four months when Hurricane Camille devastated the
area in 1969. Until Katrina, Camille was the worst hurricane on record
to hit the Gulf Coast.
Local needs
The first priority, Gray explained, is to give the local clergy some
stability so that they can return to the area. "We need to make sure they
have a place to live," he said. "We will probably get some motor
scooters for them because gas is so hard to come by. We will get trailers for
two or three clergy to give them temporary space."
The Diocese of Mississippi is helping to set up supply areas for local
needs. Coast Episcopal School in Long Beach has begun to receive goods
and volunteers and is hoping to serve 2,000 hot meals a day. Christus
Victor, a Lutheran church in Ocean Springs, is home to
Lutheran-Episcopal Services of Mississippi, an ecumenical social ministry organization.
St. Thomas, Diamondhead, will become another distribution point along
the Mississippi coast in the weeks ahead. "Once these are fully
operational, all the people who are eager to help our community will have a
place to come to, a place to send materials and we will begin to step out
into the community," Gray said.
Supplies are being received at several churches throughout Mississippi
and the diocese is organizing these to be transferred to the coastal
operations centers.
Episcopal Relief and Development sent immediate assistance to the
diocese, where some parishes have become disaster shelters. ERD's support is
helping to provide food, water, and other basic needs.
National support
The Rev. Rob Dewey from the Diocese of South Carolina works with the
U.S government's Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team. He was
deployed to Mississippi August 29 to support the men and women who make up
the forensic team and to help families find their loved ones. "I would
equate it very much to 9/11," he said. "I think we will all be here a
while to offer assistance and support."
A center has been set up where people can provide information about
family members who are missing. "This is certainly one of the most
devastating things that I have been a part of," Dewey said, "but the local
folks are resilient and we will do all that we can to help them."
After the service, Gray accompanied Dewey to the morgue where the
bishop offered a blessing over the facility.
Looking ahead
Originally from the Diocese of Kentucky, Catherine Gautier has been
youth minister at St. Mark's for just six weeks. She is hoping to continue
her work with the young people in the parish despite the devastation
caused by Katrina.
"I have asked for people to consider getting in touch with
organizations such as Salvation Army or the diocesan offices to offer support," she
said, "but to definitely remember us over the coming months because the
long term is going to be very difficult in moving forward and
reestablishing this area."
Gautier explained that her husband's family lived on Jackson Avenue in
Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where three homes in a row were destroyed
by the hurricane. "Only one home on that street -- my husband's
grandmother's -- is still standing," she said. "It has been really painful to
see how many people have lost their homes."
"It's not about the past, but looking to the future," said Diane Hayes,
a St. Mark's parishioner since 1982. "St. Mark's is not the church,
it's the people, and with everyone pulling together we will go forward."
Hayes, who is still living in her house by the sea despite it being
five feet deep in water and without doors, windows and electricity,
described people's generosity as staggering. "Not only have people been
bringing water and food; two days ago someone came by with a case of fresh
bananas," she said. "I didn't think we'd see fresh fruit for a very long
time."
Asked whether the church would rebuild, Hayes explained that it is
important for the coast that it does. "We don't want to not have a
community here," she said. "I know the first reaction is maybe it's time to
move away, but if everybody did that then the coast could not rebuild. So
we have to stay and slowly put it back together and to make it our
community again."
