Lutheran Disaster Response Leaders 'Come to the Waters'

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ELCA) -- Chief executive officers and disaster coordinators of Lutheran social ministry organizations gathered here for the Lutheran Disaster Response Consultation June 23-25. A highlight of the conference was the debut of the Lutheran Disaster Response Coalition, an affiliation of different Lutheran organizations that work in disaster response.
Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) is a joint ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). Staff of statewide Lutheran social ministries, which are supported by both church bodies, meet every other year. Social ministries are at the front lines of disaster response for LDR, which aids disaster survivors in the United States and Caribbean.
The conference theme, "Come to the Waters," highlighted the nature of many of the disasters to which LDR responds. San Antonio, where the San Antonio River is one of the main attractions, was at the center of the 1998 floods in Texas -- the worst in almost 500 years.
Some 85 participants heard an address from Lutheran Social Services of the South (LSSS) representatives on the agency's involvement after the floods.
"The church was there because of people and support, and because (the church) wanted to share the love of Christ," said the Rev. James E. Bennett, of the LSSS response. Bennett is bishop of the ELCA Southwestern Texas Synod, which is based in San Antonio.
The new disaster response coalition was formed to help Lutheran disaster response become more efficient, said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director of Lutheran Disaster Response and ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, Chicago. "In one sense each coalition member has its own vision, its own idea of what it wants," he said.
The organizations that signed the coalition agreement include Laborers for Christ, LCMS World Relief, Lutheran Brotherhood, Orphan Grain Train, Mission Builders, Aid Association for Lutherans, Lutheran Services in America, Lutheran Hour Ministries and ELCA Domestic Disaster Response.
"I'm feeling good about this agreement," Furst said. The coalition will meet in September to discuss how it plans to proceed.
The birth of the Lutheran Disaster Response Coalition came with a new identity for LDR and the coalition. Elaine Richter Bryant, LDR associate director and director of LCMS World Relief, St. Louis, introduced a new logo featuring half of a building joined to a wavy line representing water, surrounding a cross. The logo was developed jointly by communication staff with the ELCA and LCMS.
"The logo was created because there was a need to make LDR's national image clear,"said Bryant. "The building could be a church, home or community that is broken." The water represents the waters of life in baptism as well as destruction in the form of floods, Bryant added.
"We established a coalition in Florida in April," said Judith Bunker, a member of Lutheran Services in Florida and statewide LDR coordinator. "It already has a number of important parties: agencies, judicatories and brotherhoods." Bunker plans to use the new logo as a way to identify the new Florida coalition partners.
"It's not going to change the way we respond, but it is going to make our work more visible," she said.
During the conference, participants also attended workshops on topics ranging from serving the unique needs of children to an update on terrorist-caused disasters. Larry Zensinger, a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, highlighted ways that the federal government and non-governmental agencies can work together in disasters.
"The three areas where I see a need for improvement are in strengthening volunteer networks, working to integrate the different networks, and training and education," said Zensinger.
The Rev. Foster McCurley, coauthor of "Making Sense Out of Sorrow" and theologian-in-residence for social ministry organizations, and the Rev. Christine Iverson, director of Lutheran Social Service of Kansas and Oklahoma, led the group in devotions and Bible studies throughout the consultation. McCurley, a theologian with expertise in the Old Testament, used the flood story in Genesis 6-9 of the Bible for a talk on "When God Sent the Flood to Judge."
"People assume that God sent a flood as some kind of object lesson," said McCurley. "But this is not the case. God hears our laments and he remembers us."

[*Melissa Pavolka is a junior at Indiana University, Bloomington,
Ind. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA Department for
Communication.]

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