To Give is to Receive
Bishops Lee, Johnston and Jones Participate in Group Workday in New Orleans and Mississippi

By Emily Cherry

September 22, 2007

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Bishops traded purple shirts and collars for t-shirts and baseball caps during a group workday in New Orleans on September 22. After convening in House of Bishops conversations for two days, the approximately 150 bishops present were dispersed to various locations in the dioceses of Mississippi and Louisiana to repair, restore and renew the areas that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"I was so impressed with how the churches in the Diocese of Louisiana have responded to serving the community at large," said Bishop Peter Lee, who spent part of the day clearing brush and debris from a New Orleans house. His group of bishops also visited St. Paul's Episcopal Church in the Lakeview area of New Orleans-a church that, during Hurricane Katrina, was flooded by nine feet of water.

While Bishop Lee "mucked" in New Orleans, Bishop Shannon Johnston got a lesson in hanging sheet rock in Mississippi. Joined by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and other bishops and spouses from the Episcopal Church, Bishop Johnston spent the morning touring devastated areas of the Gulf Coast before stopping at Camp Coast Care, an organization sponsored by Lutheran Episcopal Services that coordinates relief and reconstruction efforts and houses volunteers in Long Beach, Miss. After hearing from some of the families who have benefited from Camp Coast Care's work, the bishops were dispatched to different homes to install sheet rock and paint.

Back in New Orleans, Bishop David Jones helped wire a newly built house for electricity thanks to the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative. Formed in March 2006 as a partnership between the Diocese of Louisiana and Episcopal Relief and Development, the Initiative is rebuilding communities and neighborhoods, not just buildings and houses. "I was so pleased to be able to participate myself," said Bishop Jones, noting that he will be able to better understand the experience of the hurricane victims and the Virginia mission workers who travel to the area.

And the bishops didn't just give-they received as well. Gratitude was a major theme for the day. When Kay Jones, Bishop Jones' wife, finished her day of painting for the Jericho Road Housing Initiative, a diocesan coordinator pointed out one of several trucks donated to the Diocese of Louisiana from the Diocese of Virginia. At a block party in the Ninth Ward, Bishop Jones was approached by a Louisiana staff member who wanted to personally thank the Diocese of Virginia for relief aid and contributions. And while Bishop Lee was touring the neighborhood around St. Paul's Church, he saw a mobile restroom trailer that travels around the area for residents without plumbing. On the trailer were the words "A Gift of the Diocese of Virginia." "They know that we've been supportive and they're very grateful," remarked Bishop Lee.

Returning to the Diocese of Mississippi, Bishop Johnston noted that "the progress has been very strong. They now have overcome initial logistical problems." Work, however, remains to be done. Some report that to fully repair and reconstruct all of the homes damaged or demolished by Hurricane Katrina, 50 houses would need to be completed every day for the next 10 years. When Bishop Johnston returns to the Diocese of Virginia later this week, he'll bring back "a sense of the unimaginable ongoing need." The need for volunteer labor remains high in both dioceses to accomplish the massive amount of recovery and rebuilding that remains to be done. It may be true that time may heal all wounds, "but we need 10 years of time," said Bishop Johnston.

On Sunday, all three bishops will travel to churches in the dioceses of Mississippi and Louisiana to join in worship. The House of Bishops will reconvene for two more days of meetings starting on Monday, September 24. "I am optimistic that there will be greater understanding between representatives of the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church," said Bishop Lee.