Episcopal Church, Anglican Communion rally to aid Haiti
Episcopal News Service. January 14, 2010 [011410-04]
Pat McCaughan
From spare pocket change to thousands of dollars and additional pledges of ongoing assistance, Anglicans and Episcopalians around the globe rallied Jan. 14 to aid their sister Diocese of Haiti in the aftermath of the worst earthquake in the island nation's history.
News of the Jan. 12 magnitude 7 earthquake, which destroyed most of the Episcopal Cathédrale Sainte Trinité (Holy Trinity Cathedral) complex including the residence of Bishop Jean-Zaché Duracin in the capital city Port-au-Prince, reverberated across the international religious community, evoking prayers and eliciting concern for the missing and injured, as the death toll, estimated in the thousands, continued to climb.
Church leaders, from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, urged a generous and immediate response, while acknowledging tough economic times.
"I urge your prayers for those who have died, been injured, and are searching for loved ones -- and I urge your concrete and immediate prayers in the form of contributions to Episcopal Relief and Development, who are already working with the Diocese of Haiti to send aid where it is most needed," Jefferts Schori said in a Jan. 13 statement.
ERD, the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church, had already disbursed emergency funding to the diocese to help meet immediate needs such as providing shelter, food and water, according to director Robert Radtke.
Williams commended the swift mobilization of relief efforts by the United Kingdom Department for International Developmentand relief agencies. "We stand alongside all the people in Haiti affected by this terrible disaster in prayer, thought and action as the situation unfolds," he said.
"I urge the public to hold the people of Haiti in their prayers, and to give generously and urgently to funding appeal set up for relief work," he added. The International Red Cross has estimated that at least 3 million people have been affected by the earthquake.
Archbishop Alan Harper of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland announced an immediate initial donation of 20,000 pounds, roughly the equivalent of US $32,540, toward the relief effort. He said the funds would be sent through Christian Aid, which had partners working in the affected area.
He noted that Haiti was still struggling to recover from "the wreckage caused by hurricanes in 2008 which left what is already the poorest community in the Western world even more traumatized and impoverished. I pray for the success of the international response to the disaster and I encourage all those who feel able to do so to contribute financially to assist the people of Haiti at this terrible time."
The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, called upon the 45-million members of congregations related to NCC member communions to act immediately to support the people of Haiti and relief organizations that are sending workers, food and water, clothing and other necessities to Haiti.
"The destruction around Port-au-Prince is so massive it can't yet be measured," said Kinnamon. "What is clear is that the toll in lives and property will go beyond our ability to comprehend it. The situation has few precedents in our lifetimes and our response to it must also be unprecedented."
Prayer vigils, local efforts, 'strength in unity'
From Newark to Los Angeles, diocesan bishops called upon local congregations to gather in prayer and offer a generous response to help the Diocese of Haiti, which includes about 98 congregations, missions and preaching stations and is the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church.
Bishops from Province II dioceses, of which the Diocese of Haiti is a member, pledged "at least $10,000 from our own resources" in a Jan. 13 statement and urged their membership to contribute generously. Province II includes the dioceses of Central New York, Newark, New Jersey, Western New York, Albany, Long Island, Rochester, New York, and the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe.
Additionally, Bishop Mark Beckwith of Newark cited deep, longstanding connections between his diocese and Haiti when he announced Jan. 14 another $10,000 donation for relief efforts. "Haiti has been shattered by this earthquake," Beckwith said. "We are drawing on those connections to offer the most helpful and hopeful response that we can."
In the Diocese of Los Angeles, Bishop Jon Bruno called upon some 147 congregations to hold special offerings for earthquake relief.
Bishop James L. Jelinek of the Diocese of Minnesota asked his congregants "to join him in prayer, lament and reflection for the tragedy continuing to unfold in Haiti," at a 7 p.m. prayer vigil Jan. 14 at St. Mark's Cathedral. Minnesota congregations have historic and ongoing connections with the Diocese of Haiti.
The Rev. Pierre Andre Duvert, rector of the Church of the Resurrection in East Elmhurst, New York, a section of Queens, is working with other priests in the Diocese of Long Island to coordinate a special service for Haiti's earthquake victims in Brooklyn.
Duvert's congregation includes people from throughout the Caribbean, including a sizeable Haitian population, and Duvert himself is Haitian. Duvert's father, Andre, 77, chancellor of the Diocese of Haiti, was at his home in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit. Duvert was able to speak to his father the evening of Jan.13.
"The house where they (Duvert and his wife) reside isn't habitable, but physically they are OK," he said. "They are staying in the street on linens … .they are thankful for being spared."
The general public was invited to attend "A Service of Prayer for Haiti -- Strength in Unity" at 4 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Washington National Cathedral. A special collection would be designated to ERD to help provide food, water, medicine as well as long-term recovery and rehabilitation aid.
And on a more local level, students at St. Mark's Episcopal School in Upland, California, in the Diocese of Los Angeles, channeled a longstanding fundraiser into earthquake relief, while anxiously awaiting news of their sister school, St. Andre School in Trianon, located about 25 miles from Port-au-Prince.
The fundraiser, "Change for Change," involves students collecting "spare change to help change lives," said St. Mark's middle school science teacher Guen Vinnedge in an interview Jan. 13. "We'll adapt the program and see what the greatest needs are and send some to Episcopal Relief and Development."
She said the school's Haiti connection made the earthquake devastation "more real to the kids. They want to know if we've heard from the priest. They want to know how far away our school is from Port-au-Prince. Everybody's really thinking about them and hoping they're okay."