Reports are coming in from our churches of the work they are doing to help their neighbors after Hurricane Sandy.
New reports will be added here as they come in.
From The Rev. Sheelagh Clarke, Rector of St. Stephen's in Millburn, Nov. 9:
St. Stephen’s Community Partnership events began in the thick of the storm’s aftermath. This past Tuesday, power newly restored, St. Stephen’s opened its Rectory doors to host fifteen local seniors for a warm lunch and a movie. This new event couldn’t have come at a better time, after a week of cold, dark and isolation following Storm Sandy. The first week in November also saw the beginning of St. Stephen’s community partnership with the Red Cross Food Pantry. Instead of clients coming to pick up groceries, volunteers made deliveries to homes to ensure that clients did not go without. Communication problems, gasoline shortages and displaced families provided a real test for the project in its opening week. The church also continues to offer a warming and charging station for parents, parishioners and local people during the weekdays.
From Hilary Thomas, Parish Secretary at St. James' in Upper Mointclair, Nov. 8:
Since Hurricane Sandy hit the area last Monday, hundreds of local residents have found warmth, comfort and connections at St James’ Episcopal Church on the corner of Valley and Bellevue in Upper Montclair.
Finding the parish buildings blessed with power on Tuesday morning, the Rector, The Rev. John Perris, acted immediately. He and the Assistant Rector, The Rev. Audrey Hasselbrook, quickly made signs inviting neighbors in to recharge themselves and their cell phones and laptops. As word got out, a steady stream of people started to come into the building. Some just drank coffee while their phones charged, others stayed all day working on their laptops or playing games to pass the time. Parishioners have organized family movies at 6 p.m. each evening – with much corn popping to accompany them.
On Wednesday the crowd had spilled downstairs and an “internet café” was established in the basement.
We have been most impressed by the generosity of those who have come though our doors. One early visitor went out and bought power strips to extend the number of electrical sockets that were available. Many came with food and supplies and made generous donations to the church. The money collected will be used to support hungry and needy people in the parish of St Paul in Panama City, our partner parish in Panama, Central America.
St James’ is now an official Township “warming center” and townspeople whose homes are too cold to sleep in can come to building to spend the night. As the weather cools many Montclair residents are finally getting their power back. But there are some for whom it will take more time. St James’ will continue to welcome anyone who needs warmth and shelter until the impact of this disaster is completely over in the area.
Many visitors expressed their gratitude for the welcome that St James’ offered, and we received the letter below that we wanted to share. It both humbles us and encourages us as we focus on becoming a missional center in our community.
To whom it may concern:
Just want to thank St. James Episcopal Church, a warm & welcoming place I parked myself for the past week after Hurricane Sandy. Just like most of people live in Upper Montclair, I did not have power until Nov. 6th (Tuesday). St. James opens its door to everyone to recharge electronic devices; warm-up with hot soup, cookies, coffee/tea; reconnect with the rest of the world with wifi; chat with friendly people in the neighborhood; hosting movies nights for kids. Most of us who does not go to church regularly feel a little awkward even stepping into a church. St. James made me feel like joining a heart-warming community gathering, made the cold weather a little bit more tolerable. Hurricane Sandy makes me believes that a church like St. James is so essential to our society which is so reliant on internet to connect with people. Real people with heart mean so much more than a smiling face on text message or email.
Katy Chih Palmer
From the Rev. Diane Rhodes, Priest-in-Charge at St. Andrew's in Harrington Park, Nov. 6:
At St. Andrew's Church in Harrington Park, Christopher Marin immediately knew he wanted to do something to help. Chris and his family, who attend St. Andrew's "All God's Children" service, sought a way to ease the pain that children were experiencing. Chris decided that a clothing and toy drive was the right approach. He described his plan at the All God's Children service on Sunday, November 4. He placed collection boxes at St. Andrew's and several stores nearby. As power came back to Harrington Park and the surrounding area, Chris' mom, author Victoria Marin, posted the appeal on her website and Facebook page. People saw it and sent it further on Twitter. ABC News picked up the story. Journalist Michele Charlesworth posted it on her page. The calls began coming in to St. Andrew's and people are dropping off boxes and bags of new and gently used clothing and toys. Other churches in the area and even from out of state have called to ask how to start similar projects. Donations will be distributed to communities in need beginning Wednesday and throughout the next two weeks.
We are all delighted at Chris' dream and his ability to step out in audacious faith, and we are thrilled at the generous response of the entire community. We worship in several liturgies and at different services, but we are one St. Andrew's community. No hurricane can change that! If anything, Sandy has brought us closer in Christian community.
From the Rev. Mary Davis, Rector of St. Paul's in Chatham, Nov. 2:
Because St Paul's did not lose power, only one one two public buildings in Chatham Borough, the Borough's Office of Emergency Management approached us on Wednesday to ask us to serve as a 24 hr warming center. Of course, we agreed. Close to 70 people, primarily parishioners, had come already on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, the community started filing in too. So Simon Mason, assisted by my son Patrick, went to work, re-wiring the building and running cables up to the parish hall so that visitors could set up on long tables, access the Internet and have coffee while they charged up.
So many people were in the building yesterday, along with Anne Matlack [Organist & Choirmaster at Grace Church in Madison] and her daughter, that we held an impromptu All Saints' Eucharist, inviting the community assembled. Anne played the piano, volunteers read scripture and my son acolyted.
Parish volunteers have stepped forward already, to spend the night in our building, keeping 24 hour vigil on the needs of others.
From the Rev. Matthew Corkern, Rector of Calvary Church in Summit, Nov. 1:
You all know of my great love for Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Well, the days are long but we are doing truly great work. As many of you have heard on the news, this is a record storm going back to 1932. People are saying New Jersey is devastated! NYC is flooded and the reality is limited power across the metropolitan region. We are being asked to brace for cold and darkness as most homes will be without power for seven to ten more days.
Having been here a little more than a year, I am constantly amazed at the generosity of spirit and hospitality of abundance in the people of Calvary Episcopal Church, in Summit, New Jersey. These are such extraordinary people who understand the meaning of welcoming ALL WHO COME to the Lord’s Table, figuratively and literally. As our parish home is the only house of worship in this town and neighboring towns with power, the Church remains open 24/7 with lights on for people to seek shelter and most importantly to have a place to simply pray and be quietly. Working with my colleague Vanessa Southern from the Unitarian Church, we invited our fellow clerics from the Interfaith Council to use our offices and offer pastoral care in the Church.
It really has been the most amazing grass-roots effort of outreach and fellowship! Early on, we realized as one of the few places with power in town with power that we should offer a place to get warm and recharge electronics, an opportunity for those seeking fellowship in the darkness, and a meal for those without. The congregation followed by the whole community responded by bringing refrigerators and freezers of food. We are now offering three meals a day (breakfast at 8 am, lunch at 12 noon, and dinner at 6 pm). Last night, there were over 230 people gathered. We shall continue as the loaves and fish continue to multiply. Our chair of Parish Life, Bo Humphrey and our co-chair for Outreach, Bebe Lee, have been working diligently day-by-day with a plan for the next meal and how to provide with massing around forty parishioners cooking, serving, cleaning, and entertaining those we have been blessed to meet in this sacred way. Our youth are organizing movie showings and game rooms. It seems we will continue this new ministry as the Salvation Army has designated us as the local feeding station with a board outside now reading: Free Meals Inside. It is truly humbling being told we have done much good. In truth, we have simply opened ourselves to seeing God around us and offered a time and place to be still in this corner of the world.
I could tell hundreds of stories already but I believe the best is the gift I received last week out of the blue. One of our parishioners presented me with a generous check and said, “Use this where best.” There were no stipulations except that a new ministry need might arise soon. His generosity and similar gifts have allowed Calvary to be a place where we truly live the Good News. I could also tell you of the four year, Brooks, who absolutely refused to stop helping prepare food in the kitchen until every last person had been given something to eat and drink. As we hear often in our invitations: Come to this table to meet the Living God! It is here that the Living God is abundantly present.
