Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

The outpouring of support and desire to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina from around our Diocese is heartwarming. We want you to know of and pray for members of our Diocese who are helping with the relief effort. They include: Deacon Jane Bearden was in Baton Rouge earlier this week as a volunteer chaplain for the Red Cross and is currently in New Orleans working in the D-MORT, the temporary morgue where up to 1,000 bodies a day are expected to be processed. She will be in Louisiana for at least two weeks. The Rev. Paul Minor of All Saints’ Church in Belmont was among the first National Guard  teams to arrive in the area around the University of New Orleans to assist with evacuations. The Revs. Mark Brown, SSJE and. Charles LaFond, SSJE both from Society of St. John the Evangelist are providing counseling to the victims in the Gulf Coast area.

 

We have been in touch with the dioceses of Louisiana and Mississippi to assure them of our concern and our continued prayer. Our tangible assistance is also needed, and so we have offered our partnership with congregations in those two states. The Diocese of Mississippi has asked us to partner with the Church of the Redeemer in Biloxi, a church which twice has been destroyed by hurricanes.

 

Initially, we are asking for your donations; in the longer term we hope to organize work teams for rebuilding efforts. Send contributions to the Diocese of Mississippi, designated for the Church of the Redeemer in Biloxi, to PO Box 23107, Jackson, MS, 39225. In future emails, we will send you more information about this particular church as well as our efforts to partner with a church in Louisiana, which have been delayed because of the difficulty in accessing communications with the bishop there.

 

Attached is a bulletin insert. Please put this information in your bulletin, make announcements at services, consider taking up a second collection or ask your outreach committee to publicize this fundraising drive.

 

In addition to assisting the Church of the Redeemer in Biloxi, people can donate to the entire Gulf Coast area through Episcopal Relief and Development through the following:

ERD’s Web site at www.er-d.org;

Call 800/334-7626, ext. 5129 (Monday-Friday, 9 A.M.-5 P.M.); or

Mail checks, marked “Hurricane Relief” and made payable to “Episcopal Relief and Development,” to:  Episcopal Relief and Development, Box 12043, Newark, NJ 07101-5043.

 

Whether you help support the Church of the Redeemer in Mississippi or the general effort through Episcopal Relief and Development or other organizations, please know of our gratitude for your prayerful support of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. This is a time that requires a level of generosity and compassion equal to the reach of this storm’s powerful devastation

 

Faithfully,

 

M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE                      

Bud Cederholm

Gayle E. Harris