Pastoral letter to New York diocese from bishop coadjutor

[Episcopal Diocese of New York] To our Brothers and Sisters Throughout the Diocese of New York,

I write this on behalf of Bishop Sisk, Bishop Smith and myself as our communities regather on the second Sunday following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.  Two weeks later there are still substantial pockets of our diocese that remain without electric light and heat, even as a second storm has visited upon us a plunge into cold weather and the first snow of the winter.  For some, food and water continue to be daily challenges, and many remain without phone, cell or internet service.  Recovery in parts of our diocese has been painfully slow.  And while we are confident that most of our diocese will eventually emerge from this storm with our churches, infrastructure and lives intact, we still have profound pastoral responsibilities to meet for members of our own parishes and for the larger communities we serve.

Yet, even as many are returning to their routines, we know that this will not be true for our ten congregations on Staten Island.  Though few of our churches there suffered damage, and none had catastrophic loss, the communities served by our parishes on the island have been irrevocably changed.  Whole neighborhoods have been utterly destroyed, countless homes washed away, hundreds of people displaced, and Staten Island counts almost half of the fatalities which this storm visited upon our whole state.  Bishop Sisk and I have made separate trips to Staten Island, and between us have witnessed ourselves the anguish of those who have lost so much, and whose lives have been permanently compromised and rendered forever fragile.  Standing on Staten Island one cannot help but see the full weight of the human suffering exacted by this historic and powerful storm.  Great sopping piles of the treasured possessions and cherished mementos collected through lives lived among beloved family and friends and in safe and familiar homes now line the curbs as discarded trash against the backdrop of broken or collapsed houses.  In some neighborhoods nothing is left but the foundations of structures which two weeks ago were warm homes.  For most of us, to lose everything we have would be a heartbreak impossible to imagine.  But for some among us it is now their lived reality.

Yet we have also seen the community and churches of Staten Island, and the larger community of our diocese, rise up as soon as the winds died to minister to people and families who had been suddenly cast into the most profound need.  This has been the work and ministry of hundreds, but we want to hold before you a few people who have brought leadership to this effort.  The Reverend Stephen Harding has coordinated our effort as our new Disaster Response Coordinator.  He has exceeded every expectation.  The quality of his attention and care, the careful gathering of resources and building of networks, and the excellence of his daily communications to the diocese I believe have brought clarity and order to a vast effort waged on many fronts.  The Reverends Charles Howell on Staten Island and Alon White in Nyack have worked with Father Harding to coordinate our regional efforts.  In addition, Christ Church on Staten Island, Saint Mark’s in-the-Bowery in Lower Manhattan, Saint Stephen’s in Pearl River, Saint Luke’s in Somers, and Saint Peter’s in Peekskill have become regional centers for the distribution of resources and for outreach to people in need in the hardest-hit parts of our diocese.  Countless other churches have contributed food, volunteers and other resources to those regional efforts and to their own local ministries.  In addition, some of our parishes and individuals have made substantial and generous grants and gifts to provide funding for the work that lies ahead.  To all of these and to all who have given of themselves to further the witness of our church in this crisis, and to all those whose selfless relief work is unknown to us, we give our humble and sincere thanks.

We invite you to monitor the diocesan website, where we will continue to give information on how everyone in our diocese may help in the ongoing relief work of our church, and provide a means to make your own needs known to us.  It is also a place where donations to this effort may be made.  In the days to come we will be communicating a structure for our work as we move from the early days of emergency response to the longer process of sustaining our churches and communities through the rebuilding of lives to come.

Finally, we call our churches back to our primary ministry as people of prayer:

Almighty God, our ever-present help in time of trouble, we raise up before you the many of your children who have suffered the loss of property or life in these days.  Protect the endangered, strengthen the weak, give hope to the frightened, heal the injured, comfort the lonely, shelter the vulnerable, and give blessed repose to the souls of the departed.  Grace the clergy and people of your churches with wisdom, faith and courage that we may see and know the work of loving care and relief before us in the communities you have given us to serve, and equip us for that work.  Gather us in your Name that those who have suffered loss and those working for recovery and relief may together know you as the God of Creation and of Resurrection, and see your miracles and wonders among us and around us.  Finally, bless, we pray, our neighboring dioceses of Long Island, New Jersey and Newark as they engage their own recovery and reach out to their own communities.  And we ask these graces and blessings for the sake of your Name.  Amen.

Please know that we, your bishops, remain personally available to you through this critical season in the life of our diocese.  It is our greatest privilege to serve you and the Diocese of New York.

+Andrew
The Rt. Rev. Andrew M.L. Dietsche

Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of New York