A number of us – UU ministers- were serving as interim ministers around the country at the time. I, (Frank Carpenter) was serving First Parish in Chelmsford, MA. The church renting to a Shiite congregation at the time and had been for several years. Leaders of that group attended the open sanctuary held that evening and part of our response was getting to know them better through such things a a shared pot-lukc. I have invited other interims to share their thoughts.
judith walker-riggs: Since I was in West Hartford, CT, amd members of the congregation were tangentially involved, though none died fortunately, everything was redone for the day. There was standing room only for the service, and a second, quieter service immediately following where people could come forward and light candles and tell of their experiences. The most wrenching candle was lit by a young woman who worked in a day care center in Manhattan, and as they let the children go and be claimed, some by relatives because one or both parents had been in the WTC, three children remained. Sadly their parents had filled in the card with an emergency contact who was a co-worker, and thus also lost. They had a detective job to do, finding friends in apartment houses, asking who knew if they had relatives anywhere etc. etc. They had a long night of it. As for the 10 year anniversary, the media will be full of it, unless I was somewhere directly near the WTC I would think a good solid mention, perhaps in the prayer, would suffice.
Phyllis Hubbell: Here in Washington, and surely in New York and Pennsylvania, people in our congregations may have had direct experiences of 9/11. In fact, I read that thousands of people in New York City suffer from PTSD because of the events of that day. We will be starting a consulting ministry in Leesburg, VA and are already hearing grateful response to our suggestion that we provide some sort of service. I’m exploring whether there is some local interfaith service or perhaps doing a Vespers service — a quiet place where we are called back to what is good in this world and deeply part of a community in times that call for mourning and recommitment. Wishing all of us a sense of renewal as we take up new work, or officially start the new church year.
Anita Farber-Robertson: That is a deeply moving story Judith. I think all of the congregations n the greater Boston area were impacted because the planes that hit the towers came out of Logan, our airport. That alone packed a wallop. And then there were those who actually knew someone on one of the planes. I was serving Rockport, and one member of the congregation had a brother-in-law on the plane that hit the Pentagon. I am now in Cohasset and have not heard stories personal stories of impact, but did hear how the minister severing at the time did not address the event or the trauma in worship and that was troubling. Now may be my chance to heal and address some of that, and I will do my best to weave together a celebration of Ingathering, and a healing remembrance.
Lisa Presley: As someone who began an interim in September 2001, and who ended it in June 2003, that period was bounded by the September 11th tragedy and the being of the Iraq war. I’ve oft heard it said that you’re never really their minister until you do your first memorial service. Those events made it so you did your first memorial almost before you even said hello. Whether or not they listened to me throughout the rest of the two years depended on how well I met them where they were, and helped them move to someplace else. Not a ending of their grief, shock, trauma, but a way to frame it, to hold it, to know that they weren’t alone. Likewise the ending–saying goodbye in such a fractious time made things difficult for them all, too. But such is interim.
911peacecircles 