ELCA Pastors Visit New York for 'Solidarity Weekend'

NEW YORK (ELCA) -- Approximately 200 pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), including about half of the church's 65 synod bishops, were here April 6-7 for "Solidarity Weekend." The visitors came from around the country to show support for pastors, congregations and ministries dealing with the nearly- seven-month aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The ELCA has 10,816 congregations and 5.13 million members across the United States and Caribbean. The church has more than 17,600 pastors.
About 130 of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod's 225 congregations hosted visiting ELCA pastors. Some pastors preached during Sunday worship in Connecticut and New Jersey congregations in suburban New York City.
One group of visitors from the Seattle area worshiped at Trinity Lutheran Church, Brooklyn. The Rev. W. Chris Boerger, bishop of the ELCA Northwest Washington Synod, Seattle, preached there. The Rev. Marjorie A. Funk-Pihl, a pastor from Boerger's synod, presented Trinity members with a cloth featuring hand prints from children in Sunday school at First of Richmond Beach Lutheran Church, Shoreline, Wash.
All visiting pastors participated in an April 6 service of celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, Manhattan. The Rev. Carol S. Hendrix, bishop of the ELCA Lower Susquehanna Synod, Harrisburg, Pa., presided, and the Rev. Robert A. Rimbo, bishop of the ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod, Detroit, preached. Other bishops served in such roles as acolytes, ushers and lectors.
During the service, the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, who acted as host to the visiting pastors, thanked worshipers for the support the ELCA has given his synod and the region's ministries. In turn, the congregation thanked Bouman for his leadership with a standing ovation.
Bouman acknowledged "teachers, pastors, lay leaders -- the church in New York" who have responded since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Also present at the service was Daniel A. Nigro, a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Bayside (Queens). Nigro was named chief of the New York City Fire Department after his predecessor was killed in the collapse of the north tower of the World Trade Center. In his greetings to worshipers, Nigro said, "What we have found since Sept. 11 is that we have many friends. In this church today, we have many friends here, and we thank you."
Prior to Saturday worship, some of the bishops and other visitors were bused by the New York City Police Department to Ground Zero and related sites in Lower Manhattan. Steve Dato, a member of Grace Lutheran Church, North Bellmore, N.Y., and a police department lieutenant, showed the visitors a slide presentation at the city's police headquarters on the events of Sept. 11.
From a platform used by family members of victims at Ground Zero, the group viewed the cleanup efforts that are continuing in a four-story-deep hole.
The group's final stop was St. Paul's Chapel, a historic church and Episcopal-run ministry adjacent to Ground Zero. St. Paul's has been a respite center for workers at the site to rest or receive meals. Operations at the chapel cost approximately $3,000 a day.
During the Lutherans' visit, Lutheran Disaster Response-New York (LDR-NY) coordinator John Scibilia presented the Rev. Lyndon Harris, associate responsible for ministry at St. Paul's, with a $21,000 check for a week's worth of food at the chapel.
ELCA members contributed nearly $7 million to Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) for the church's response to the terrorist attacks. LDR is a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod (LCMS). A large portion of the contributions is being spent through LDR-NY, directed by Bouman and the Rev. David H. Benke, president of the LCMS Atlantic District.
In cooperation with other religious and national agencies, LDR- NY has addressed the needs of many people who have struggled since Sept. 11. Counseling services and financial help have been provided to hundreds of people who have no other emergency funding available, said Scibilia.
The ELCA Conference of Bishops and the ELCA Department for Synodical Relations worked with the Metropolitan New York Synod and neighboring synods to help make arrangements for the pastors' visit.
The idea for what became Solidarity Weekend was first suggested by Bouman at the October 2001 meeting of the ELCA Conference of Bishops, an advisory body of the church consisting of 65 synod bishops, the ELCA presiding bishop and the ELCA secretary. Many bishops supported the idea that evolved into the April 6-7 events.
"This is an opportunity for us to show our support in love and prayer with congregations in New York," said the Rev. Donald J. McCoid, bishop of the ELCA Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, Pittsburgh, and chair of the Conference of Bishops. "It is wonderful that we can do this in the Easter season, when we can say that death doesn't have the last word. There is life," McCoid said.
According to Bouman and McCoid, many distinct efforts have been providing assistance to congregations, including respite for pastors in this and similar crises. But neither bishop was aware of an organized effort of this magnitude to provide such support in a single effort.
"For our whole church to respond and go to New York together is great," McCoid said.

* Stephen H. Padre is an associate director for interpretation, ELCA
Department for Communication. He is responsible for communications
of the ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal.

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