Church statements and actions

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM
CWS SITUATION REPORT: DOMESTIC ATTACKS
Sept. 11, 2001

"SITUATION: An attack by two hijacked planes brought down the landmark twin towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan today, and a plane also crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., causing one side of the government building to collapse.

Thousands could have perished in the attack in New York, city officials said. It was too soon to say how many may have died or were injured in the disaster, which is being called a terrorist attack. Some 50,000 people work at the World Trade Center.

Two United airliners also crashed, the Associated Press (AP) reported, one outside of Pittsburgh. Federal buildings in New York and Washington were evacuated, including the White House, the Pentagon and the US Capitol. All air traffic in the country was shut down.

RESPONSE: Church World Service has mobilized its network of Disaster Response Consultants nation-wide to provide pastoral care in New York City, in Washington, D.C. and other locales as needed.

Coordination is being directed at CWS offices in New York and by the Church World Service (CWS) Emergency Response Executive Committee, meeting this week in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Members of the CWS ERP staff meeting in New Mexico are relocating to the Church of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Maryland, which will serve as the center for communication and response coordination.

The executive committee moved into immediate emergency session in response to the news of the attack on the World Trade Center and the unfolding events in other parts of the country.

Working together as a coordinated body, CWS ERP and the member communions of the CWS Emergency Response Executive Committee are implementing and coordinating an immediate response that includes:

Placing on alert CWS regional disaster response consultants for provision of pastoral care consultation. Consultants who have been mobilized include:

  • New York-based Disaster Response Facilitator (DRF) Joann Hale, United Church of Christ, who is assisting with CWS-wide coordination.
  • Pennsylvania-based DRF Shirley Norman, Church of the Brethren, will be at the Washington, DC, Emergency Operations Center.
  • DRCs Carol Alt, United Church of Christ; Art Jackson, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC); and Dick Krajeski, Presbyterian Church (USA), have been placed on alert for pastoral care needs, as have DRFs Jackie Leonard, Presbyterian Church (USA), and Charles Moeller, Lutheran Disaster Response.
  • Carl Chamberlain, United Methodist Church, a trained CWS volunteer, is assisting the Emergency Operations Center in Albany, NY. CWS volunteer Bill Sage is expected to assist, as needed, at the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) in New York City, also for the purposes of coordination.
  • DRF Ellis Wykstra, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), will open the satellite emergency response office at the Church of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Maryland.

    Member communions with trained emergency pastoral care teams have placed their teams on standby for a coordinated response, and CWS and its member denominations are meeting regularly to further a coordinated response.

    Church World Service has established an account for those seeking to support CWS pastoral care and assistance efforts in this disaster"

    Back to the list of statements