In the News

The diocese will request financial assistance from Episcopal Relief & Development to help abate costs for congregations that provided assistance to their communities during Hurricane Sandy, the extended power outages and the exacerbating effects of the Nor’easter.

In order to assess the financial assistance we will request, we're asking churches to complete the Church Financial Assistance Request Worksheet developed for this purpose. The information you provide will help us to accurately capture those costs incurred by your congregations during your relief efforts. The deadline for submission is December 21, 2012.

The words surfaced again and again as Episcopalians described how their churches became distribution centers for relief supplies and sanctuaries of warmth and food in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which slammed the Northeast on Oct. 29. The storm swept away or flooded homes along the coasts of New Jersey and New York, disrupted transportation and telephone services across the region and left millions of households without electricity and heat, and in some cases water, throughout multiple dioceses.

Churches responded by opening their doors as warming, charging and feeding stations; collecting and distributing emergency supplies and meals; and dispatching volunteers to visit and inventory the needs of those most affected by the storm. In the process, their clergy reported, the churches offered new opportunities for service and built community within and beyond their walls.

For the Jews, Muslims, and Christians on a New Jersey interfaith mission to Israel, the low point of their weeklong trip was perhaps a visit to the Aida refugee camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem. The towering security wall, the anti-Israel graffiti, and the unsmiling children were grim reminders of the ongoing enmity between the children of Abraham.

The high point was — well, take your pick: a tearful group prayer as many of the participants got their first glimpse of Jerusalem; a Friday evening synagogue service in which a rabbi, an imam, and an Episcopal bishop all offered words from the bima; or perhaps a raucous ceremony, held at Jerusalem’s YMCA, where they were invited to join in welcoming Arab volunteers into an Orthodox-run emergency medical corps.

On Friday, November 9, we boarded the Ibrahim Dede with eighteen crew berthed at APM Terminal in Port Elizabeth — a visit that will forever be indelibly imprinted in our minds and souls.