Episcopal Relief Efforts Continue for Victims of Oklahoma City Bomb Blast
Episcopal News Service. May 4, 1995 [95074]
(ENS) As the nightmare of the Oklahoma City bombing stretched from days into weeks, Episcopalians from the local diocese and from around the world reached out to the victims and their families.
At least four Episcopalians were among the more than 150 people killed in the April 19 bombing of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building, reported the Rev. Charles Woltz, canon to the ordinary for the Diocese of Oklahoma. An unknown number of Episcopalians were injured, he said.
"My heart aches over the death and misery caused by this outlaw act of terrorism," said Bishop Robert M. Moody of Oklahoma. "That human beings could knowingly cause such destruction is beyond my ability to understand. Such anger and hate must not be allowed to prevail. Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison."
The diocese's cathedral, not far from the federal building, was severely damaged in the bomb blast and may require up to a year's renovation, Woltz said. With the apparent damage to the walls making the nave unsafe for occupation, the congregation will hold services in the parish hall until the walls are braced. "While possibility of collapse is one in ten million and there are no visual signs of such happening, it would be wise not to take any risks at all," said Dean George Back.
The diocesan office building, also close to the federal building, received some damage, but can still be occupied.
From the first moments after the blast shook the city, "dozens of volunteers have flooded into the cathedral grounds, a half dozen of them newly confirmed Holy Saturday night," wrote Back as he recorded his immediate impressions following the explosion. Thousands of volunteers, many Episcopalians among them, flocked to the blast site, to the nearby hospital and to relief centers to offer aid, reported Woltz. "In this part of the country, people care for each other," he said. "The expression of grace is just wonderful to see."
Episcopal clergy and lay people continue to counsel the injured, families of victims and other relief workers, Woltz said. Others are assisting the Red Cross in efforts to coordinate food distribution and to provide transportation and other services for relatives of victims.
An Episcopal priest, the Rev. Peter Van Hook of Utah, who is a volunteer disaster relief consultant with Church World Services (CWS), has coordinated efforts to organize a long-term, interfaith relief response. Through it, representatives of the Bahai, Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths have come together "to try to deal both with this event and to show their unity and their common tolerance and respect," Woltz said.
As messages of support have poured in, both from within the United States and beyond, "we have received enough faxes to plaster the reception room wall," said Back. "Over the centuries many have been comforted by the Communion of Saints; we are finding strength in the communication of saints."
Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning was one of the first people to call Moody. In addition, Woltz said, faxes or calls have come from Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and the Rev. Canon John Peterson, secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, in London, and from Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa.
Many of the victims and their families have "physical and emotional injuries that will require professional help over along period of time," Moody said. "There are many people who will need help with their medical bills. There are others whose apartments and homes have been condemned and will need help relocating."
The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief sent an immediate emergency grant of $25,000 to the Diocese of Oklahoma, reported Nancy Marvel, the fund's interim director. In addition, the Episcopal Church is represented in the area through the ecumenical efforts of the Church World Service (CWS), a relief agency of the National Council of Churches.
Marvel noted that the Oklahoma City bombing was but one of a number of "non-natural" disasters that have struck around the world in recent months. Other disasters, such as the gas explosion in Korea, and the chemical explosion in New Jersey, and the gas attacks in Japan, "have caused deaths and many injuries to those affected directly and to the rescue workers," she said. War and other conflicts in such places as Croatia and Rwanda also continue to cause vast human suffering, she said. "Our concern for the victims and their families and communities is great."
Undesignated gifts to the Presiding Bishop's Fund "enable the fund to respond to where the need is greatest at any given moment," she said. "Designated contributions are disbursed in the full amount to the area identified by the donor as quickly as possible."
Donations for the bomb relief effort may be sent to:The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief; 815 Second Avenue; New York, NY 10017;(checks should be made out to the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, and marked for "Oklahoma victims")
In addition, donations may be sent to:
Victim Relief Fund; 924 North Robinson; Oklahoma City, OK 73102; (checks should be made out to The Diocese of Oklahoma, and marked "Bomb blast")
Cathedral Restoration Fund 127 N.W. 7th Street; Oklahoma City, OK 73102; (checks should be made out to St. Paul's Cathedral)
Victim and Family Relief Fund; Office of the Governor State Capitol Building; Oklahoma City, OK 73105
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