CHICAGO (ELCA) -- W. Reid Morrill, 78, a longtime member of Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church, New Sweden, Maine, died April 28. Maine health officials have identified arsenic poisoning as the probable cause of his death and of illnesses experienced by a dozen other members of the congregation. Gustaf Adolph is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Members of the congregation in northeast Maine became sick Sunday afternoon, April 27, several hours after drinking coffee and eating sandwiches and sweets at the church. The suspected cause of the illness is arsenic poisoning, said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director, Maine Bureau of Health.
Investigations are being conducted into how the parishioners ingested the arsenic, Mills said. An autopsy was conducted April 29, with the cause of death reported as pending.
Morrill was one of several Gustaf Adolph members taken to Cary Medical Center, Caribou, Maine. Others were hospitalized at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. Seven were treated without being hospitalized.
The Rev. James P. Morgan, an Episcopal priest and pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Stockholm, Maine, has been serving Gustaf Adolph on a part-time basis while the congregation works with the ELCA New England Synod to find its own pastor. The Rev. Elaine C. Hewes, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Bangor, is assisting Morgan in counseling family members and friends of the congregation.
Congregations of the ELCA are organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop. The New England Synod includes congregations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The Rev. Hans R. Arnesen, associate to the bishop, ELCA New England Synod, Worcester, Mass., and Morgan conducted the Morrill funeral service April 30 at the Lancaster Morgan Funeral Home, Caribou.
The Rev. Margaret G. Payne, bishop of the ELCA New England Synod, is to arrive May 1 in Maine and visit the hospitalized. She will travel to New Sweden to comfort members of Gustaf Adolph and to conduct the Sunday worship service.
"I have assured the congregation of Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church that the prayers of the entire ELCA have been raised on their behalf," said Payne. "I know that is true."
The Rev. David R. Cote, Covenant Lutheran Church, Gardner, Mass., who has been trained in crisis counseling, is assisting the New England Synod to construct a plan for immediate crisis management. The plan also provides for ongoing care and support for the members of the New Sweden congregation and the community as they deal with the stress surrounding this situation, both now and in the weeks and months to come, said Payne.
Members of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Maine are assisting the ELCA congregation.
"Our partnership with the Episcopal Church is very strong in that place in particular," said Payne. "Bishop Chilton Knutson and the whole Episcopal Diocese of Maine have been very supportive at the difficult time," she added. -- -- --
* Sister Virginia Strahan is editor of The Lutheran Link, the bi-monthly publication of the ELCA New England Synod.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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Candice Hill Buchbinder
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Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
