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Today, many Galvestonians are returning to the island for the first time since Hurricane Ike inundated us on September 13.  Others have already gone back under the "look and leave" policy.  Members of Trinity Church and our neighbors have sustained enormous losses.  It is a painful situation and it will take time to recover from both the shock and the physical damage.  This is a time for us to grieve together and offer spiritual support.

To help us do that, we need to worship together.  It will be at least four weeks before Trinity can be ready for us to return.  The remediation process involves removal of contaminated contents, drying, some demolition, and cleansing with antimicrobial chemicals.  When that is completed, air quality tests are performed to determine if it is safe for public use.

The Rev. Lillian Hyde has invited us to worship at St. George's Church in Texas City on Sundays at 9:00 a.m.  The regular St. George's services are at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m..  This is wonderful news!  We will be ablel to see one another and be strengthened in the hearing of God's Word and in the Body and Blood of Christ as we walk together through this very difficult time.

While this is definitely a painful situation, it is not a hopeless one.  You need to know that the people who have rushed to Galveston to beging
the recovery process and prepare for our return are doing a remarkable
job!

The water hurt us worse than the wind.  The rising water was heavily contaminated and everything it touched is likewise contaminated.  Remediation specialists are everywhere pulling damaged contents out of buildings, removing sheetrock, pulling up flooring, and drying things out.

Crews are moving up and down the streets with large trucks and heavy equipment removing mountains of debris stacked by the curbs and moving it quickly to the vacant county land on Broadway where the cotton compresses were near the new Galveston County Justice Center.

Insurance companies are handling calls and sending claims adjusters to meet with residents and business owners.  Church Insurance Co. has assigned representatives to the coastal area and they are doing a fantastic job bringing in remediation crews who are documenting everything they find.  Fr. David Dearman has posted some new photos of the remediation crews at work at Galveston's Trinity Church and School.  Other photos are posted on the Trinity Church website.

Jim Hauser of Willet Hauser Art Glass Studio will be at Trinity Church on Tuesday of next week with a crew to begin the process of removing the Sealy Altar Window.  It will be packed and taken to the studio for repair and restoration.

Architect Joe Oppermann and structural engineer Patrick Sparks inspected Trinity yesterday and are preparing a report that will be important to us as we pull things back together.

Ron Wyatt has contacted Austin Organ Company and arranged for one of their top organ builders to come next week to assess any damage that our pipe organ may have sustained so that repairs can begin immediately.

Bishop Don Wimberly, the Diocese of Texas, and the national Church are moving quickly to provide assistance on every level of the life of all thirty-five congregations in our diocese that were impacted by Hurricane Ike.

I am receiving phone calls and email from all over America with offers of volunteers and funds to help rebuild.  We are working on plans for coordination of those efforts and have established a Hurricane Ike Recovery Fund.  The diocesan website has a donate button as does our own Trinity Church website.

Thousands of people in bucket trucks are restoring electrical and telelphone service.  City crews are attending to repairs to traffic signals, the water system and the sanitary sewer system.  Mayor Thomas has testified before a Senate committee and requested $2.4 billion in relief aid. 

The United States Postal Service has held our mail at the sorting facility in North Houston.  I went there yesterday to pick up mail and was greeted and assisted by numerous postal service workers from all over Texas.  Starting today, Wednesday, our mail may be picked up at the Outlet Mall in LaMarque.  Trinity Church mail has been temporarily forwarded to the Diocesan Center in Downtown Houston.  If you need to send a contribution or anything else to the church by mail, just continue to use the 2216 Ball address!

Also, the news media is providing us with coverage that will aid us in recovery and lift our spirits.

Yesterday's and today's Galveston County Daily News contain helpful articles and information those who are returning to the island need to know.

The Houston Chronicle ran a feature regarding Galveston Churches yesterday, with special attention to Trinity.

Take heart!  Hold hands!  Have hope!  As St. Paul wrote to Timothy, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

God is blessing us all in so many ways.

Ron+

This morning in Austin, Houston, and Texas City, Hurricane Ike evacuees from Galveston's Trinity and Grace Episcopal Churches found one another and worshipped together.  St. Matthew's, Austin, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, and St. George's, Texas City embraced our evacuees.  As Episcopalians, we are never more united than when we worship together.  At times like this, we better understand what it means to be in communion.

We are grateful to these and other congregations who ministered to us and shared in the hearing of the Word and in the Body and Blood of Christ with us.

 

Ike Evacuees and host clergy at St. Matthew's, Austin
September 21, 2008
 

The Garth at Galveston's Trinity Church Following Hurricane Ike

Photo by Bill Macdonald

Bishop's Video

Bishop Don Wimberly has taped his fourth video for the diocese. He made a presentation to the House of Bishops, meeting in Salt Lake City this week, regarding the diocese's response to Hurricane Ike. Our bishops cancelled their plans to attend this  meeting to be present in the diocese at this critical time.

Galveston Residents Worship in Austin/Houston

Galveston residents who have evacuated to the Austin and Houston areas are invited to worship together this Sunday at St. Matthew's, Austin, and Christ Church Cathedral, Houston. 

The Rev. Merrill Wade, rector of St. Matthew's, Austin, has invited us all to worship together with his flock at 10:30 a.m. this Sunday.  The Revs. Paul Wehner and Ron Pogue will be in the service.  St. Matthew's Church is located at 8134 Mesa Dr., Austin, Texas 78759.  Phone 512.345.8314. 

Cathedral Dean Joe Reynolds has invited evacuees in the Houston area to worship together at Christ Church Cathedral at the 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. services.  The Rev. David Dearman, head of Trinity Episcopal School, Galveston will be assisting in the services this Sunday.  Christ Church Cathedral is located at 1117 Texas Avenue, Houston, Texas 77002.  Phone 713.222.2593. 

Please pass the word!

Church Insurance

Church Insurance representatives are currently in our area assessing damage.  Representatives were in Galveston today working with remediation specialists and in communication with Fr. Pogue and Fr. Dearman.

Grants received

The Diocese has received $25,000 from Episcopal Relief and Development for immediate needs and a $125,000 grant from the St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities (Community Recovery Assistance Fund).  St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities has begun a ground level assessment, working with grantees, community members, funders, collaborative partners and City and County government.  This research and data gathered will help inform grant making. This research also prepares The Charities to address the most severe needs expressed by the community. Updates will be posted on The Charities website.

Keep in Touch

Use the Comments feature below to share information, report your whereabouts and well being, and ask questions.  It is enormously helpful for us to communicate while we are scattered during this recovery period.

The publisher of the Galveston County Daily News has an editorial in yesterday's edition that is harshly critical of Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas.  He seems to be promoting the notion that this is an election rather than a natural disaster.  Decisions that are being executed by the Mayor are driven by people who are the best in the world in disaster recovery operations.

Please, please do not attempt to return to Galveston Island until public officials say it is safe. I have received reports that people working in certain areas of the island are required to wear hazardous materials gear and masks due to the toxic nature of the environment.  One of our parishioners stayed through the storm and cut his foot trying to remove debris.  It quickly became infected due to the dirty water.  John Sealy Hospital could not help him so he had to be taken to Dallas where he was hospitalized and is being treated for a very serious infection.  Another parishioner had two flats due to nails in the street.

All of this has been been confirmed by Galveston County public officials at this morning's press conference.  There is another press conference scheduled at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon.  If you are outside the viewing area for Houston stations, try going to any of their websites to watch.

We are all anxious about our property.  However, as Christians, we are grounded in the belief that people are more important than possessions.  Remediation companies are already at work addressing the most urgent damage.  The Allcat Disaster Services crew is already at work in Trinity Episcopal School, which was worst hit, and moving toward the nave.  I want to urge everyone to contact your insurance company and see what arrangements can be made for remediation at your property by crews that are already on the island doing that for others.  These services should be covered by the insurance companies and using them will make it possible for you to stay off the island until it is safe to return.

Here is a photograph of the traffic we will face when we try to return if we all try at once.  I received a report yesterday that during the "look and leave" period, traffic was backed up to LaMarque (approximately ten miles).

We are attempting to set up a temporary office at the Diocesan Center in Houston.  Watch for further details.

Anyone in position to make contributions to Trinity either for storm recovery or for regular giving are asked to use the DONATE button on the church homepage www.trinitygalv.org.  If you must use a paper check, send it to

Galveston's Trinity Episcopal Church
c/o The Episcopal Diocese of Texas
      1225 Texas Avenue
      Houston, Texas 77002

Make your check payable to The Episcopal Diocese of Texas and note that your gift is for Galveston's Trinity Church, either for "Storm Recovery Fund" or "Operations."  The Treasurer of the Diocese is prepared to assist us with proper accounting for these contributions until we are able to handle them ourselves. 

Also, I am attempting to forward all Trinity Church and School mail to the Diocesan Center in hopes we can begin to handle business as funds are available.  Church Insurance, The Diocese of Texas, and Episcopal Relief and Development are all in the process of helping address funding during this critical period.

Photographs of damage at Trinity are now available on our website:  www.trinitygalv.org .

We have quite a few evacuees in the Austin area.  Fr. Merrill Wade, Rector of St. Matthew's Church, Austin, has invited us all to worship together with his flock at 10:30 a.m. this Sunday.  Fr. Paul Wehner and I will be in the service to offer prayers and words of comfort for coastal evacuees and gratitude for those who are giving us shelter and those who have gone into harm's way to begin the cleanup operation.  St. Matthew's Church is located at 8134 Mesa Dr., Austin, Texas 78759.  Their website is: www.stmattsaustin.org.  Phone (512) 345-8314.  Please pass the word!

Cathedral Dean Joe Reynolds has invited evacuees in the Houston area to worship together at Christ Church Cathedral at the 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. services.  Fr. David Dearman will be assisting in the services this Sunday.  Christ Church Cathedral is located at 1117 Texas Avenue, Houston, Texas 77002.  Their website is: www.christchurchcathedral.org.  Phone (713) 222-2593.  Please pass the word!

I ask you to continue to monitor www.e-piphanies.com and post comments to share information regarding your whereabouts and well being and offer words of hope and encouragement to one another during this recovery process.  And continue to pray for all whose lives are affected by Hurricane Ike, those who are sheltering us, and those who are in harm's way.

Faithfully,

Ron+

Today I am adding three photos of the damage to the Sealy Altar Window at Trinity Church.  Additional images will be placed in a Hurricane Ike damage album on the Trinity Church Website.

At first sight, these are very distressing photos.  I know they will be upsetting to you as they are to me.  However, we need to become accustomed to the reality we are facing.  Please take some comfort in the news that our architect, our structural engineer, and our stained glass conservator are reassuring about the damage and are preparing to come to Galveston to help us as soon as it is feasible.

The church and all its treasures are given to the glory of God, the Master of wind and storm.  I am confident that God will provide for us the resources and the faith to restore the place where our community gathers in his Name to worship him.  Our diocese and friends around the world are reaching out to us and will support us in the days ahead.  This is a time to remember the words of John Donne, "No man is an island."  We need the people God has put in our lives now more than ever.  We are grateful for them.

Let us not loose heart!

 

Outside Sealy Altar Window

 

Inside Sealy Altar Window

 

Broken Tiffany Glass from Sealy Altar Window

Here is Bishop Wimberly's Second Post-Storm Video .

Please use the COMMENT feature below to share information regarding your well being, whereabouts, and needs.

Ron+

Trinity Church survived Hurricane Ike.  Paul and Jan Grizzle reported Monday afternoon that there had been up to six or eight inches of water in the nave and the Sealy Altar Window was damaged.

We know that two Trinity Families and one family from Grace Church lost their homes during the storm.

Grace, St. Augustine's, William Temple Center, and St. Vincent's House appear to have had very little damage.

Church Insurance Corporation has dispatched two representatives to the Diocese of Texas and they will arrive tomorrow to work with diocesan staff to assist churches on and off the island that were hurt by the storm.

Our architect, Joe Oppermann, structural engineer Pat Sparks, and stained glass studio head Jim Hauser are preparing to travel to Galveston as soon as possible.

Bishop Wimberly has posted a video on YouTube.  To view, click Bishop Wimberly Post-Storm Video

Post-Storm sattelite images are available online from NOAA.  To view, click Post-Storm Sattelite Images

Please use the "Comment" feature below to share information, such as your whereabouts and well being, and questions.  This will help us stay in touch and support one another during this recovery period.

Also, please listen to the advice of public officials and don't return to the island until they tell us it is safe.

Finally, please pray for one another, for those who are working so hard to make it safe for us to return, and for those who are making plans to respond to our needs when we are back on the island.

Ron+

Galveston Island and the Texas Gulf Coast are under a hurricane warning as Hurricane Ike approaches.  I have been in touch with many of our local Episcopal clergy and can confirm that they and their families have evacuated and are in safe locations.  Church properties have been secured as well as possible and communicants have, by and large, moved inland to higher ground.

Bishop Don Wimberly and I spoke earlier today.  He wanted everyone to be reassured that the diocese is prepared to assist us and the emergency response plan is ready to be implemented as soon as needed.  Read the details of that plan on the diocesan website www.epicenter.org. Our Bishops and all the diocesan staff hold us in their prayers.

This interactive online forum (blog) is one way we can all communicate during this crisis. If you have a question, comment, or piece of information to share, use the "post a comment" feature below.  Gay and I will be closely monitoring this site as events unfold.

Finally, we are a people of prayer.  I suggest that, among the prayers we offer in the days ahead, we include the following three from The Book of Common Prayer.  Knowing we are praying the same prayers while we are apart from one another will be a source of comfort and unity for us.

For Quiet Confidence

O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and
rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be
our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee,
to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou
art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

For Protection

Assist us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplications and
prayers, and dispose the way of thy servants towards the
attainment of everlasting salvation; that, among all the
changes and chances of this mortal life, they may ever be
defended by thy gracious and ready help; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.  Amen.

For those we Love

Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to thy
never failing care and love, for this life and the life to come,
knowing that thou art doing for them better things than we
can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Ron+

If there is anybody who can come close to predicting the future, John Zogby might be the man.  I've been reading his new book, The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream.  He offers a picture of "new plate tectonics" that will make a huge difference in American society in the coming decade.  His insights are pertinent to every segment of society, including religious communities that are attempting to understand the emergent generation to whom they wish to deliver their message.

In his research, he has identified four meta-movements that separately and together are redefining the American dream.  They are: living with limits, embracing diversity, looking inward, and demanding authenticity.  The analysis Zogby presents is fascinating and hope-filled.  I commend this book to you if you want a fresh perspective on where we seem to be headed and why.

Okay.  I don't make a habit of arriving early to sit in a line to get anything.  However, on Friday morning, July 11, Gay and I arrived at Galveston's AT&T store at 5:30 a.m. to get in line to purchase our iPhones.  Friday was the release day for the new iPhone 3G.  We let our son, who is no longer on our payroll, try out the original version (now obsolete) for a year before we took the leap.  He is a true iPhone iBeliver!

When we arrived, we were 5th and 6th in line.  We brought our folding chairs, some great coffee, the morning newspapers, and other assorted items to occupy us during our wait.  The doors opened at 8:00 a.m.  We purchased our phones.  By afternoon, we were up and running.

As my vestry will confirm, communication and accessibility are important to me and I use my mobile phone and laptop computer extensively.  This little tool represents a sort of quantum leap in those arenas.  Wherever I may be, I can be in touch as needed and facilitate communication among others.

We are all learning how to live with these devices – and how to live without them!  It's my prayer that the good will outweigh the bad as we find new and better ways to share information, strengthen the bonds of friendship, build up the Church, and do our part to advance the reign of Jesus Christ.  After all, he commanded us to love one another and commissioned us to share good news.  His first task when he launched his public ministry was to call together a community to do that work.  The region in which he traveled was quite small, really.  And yet, he sent the community of his followers "into all the world." 

Who knows what may be possible for his 21st Century followers throughout the world if we make faithful applications of the amazing communications technology that is available to us?  He promised that we would do even greater works than he did!  And maybe my little iPhone will help make that possible.    Ron+

      

Liberty.  It’s a word we hear a lot around the Fourth of July every year.  Many of us recall studies in American History or in Philosophy that attempted to deepen our appreciation for the value associated with the word, particularly in relation to the revolt against British rule and the founding of the United States of America.

The Liberty Bell is so called because of the inscription it bears from the 25th chapter of the Book of Leviticus: “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof.”

Patrick Henry (1736-1799), one of the most influential advocates of the American Revolution, is probably best known for his “Give me Liberty or Give me Death!” speech.

Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design a sculpture with the year 1876 in mind for completion, to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence.  That sculpture, The Statue of Liberty, was not dedicated until 1886.  She stands today as a lasting symbol of the friendship established between French people and the American people at the time of the American Revolution.  The pursuit of liberty is at the heart of that friendship.

These are but a few of the many reminders of the significance of liberty that come to mind as we celebrate our nation’s birth.  I wonder if liberty means as much to the American people today as it did on that first Fourth of July.  We still enjoy liberty, but perhaps we are not as conscious of it as people who have been deprived of it.  Maybe we take it for granted. 

Nineteenth century abolitionist Wendell Phillips cautioned, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."  This would be a good day to heed his words, examine ourselves, and seek a renewed appreciation for liberty and a renewed commitment to value liberty enough to use it wisely.

Liberty, in the philosophical or political sense, can be viewed both as the freedom to act and as the absence of coercion.  In both cases, an individual is responsible for how he or she exercises that liberty.  People of faith – any faith – will look to the teachings of their faith for guidance in the decisions liberty permits them to make.  What should I do with the freedom I have to exercise my will and from coercion to act against my will?  How does my relationship with God influence the way I express the liberty that has been made possible for me and my neighbor?

The founders of our nation differed in some significant ways in their religious views.  However, there seems to have been a common conviction that liberty was a basic and inalienable human right endowed by the Creator.  Indeed, the theme of liberty is woven throughout the scriptures that are sacred to Christians.  The theme is so prominent that one would have to be blind to miss it in even a casual reading of either testament.

I’ll just conclude with a short summary of how liberty is treated in the New Testament with the hope that it will prompt others to do their own exploration and take it to heart so that the liberty we have in Christ will help us better exercise the liberty we have as Americans.

The biblical theme of liberty has to do with freedom from any form of slavery or oppression.  Spiritually, the power which enslaves is sin (John 8:34) and liberty is deliverance from sin and for a right relationship with God and our neighbor.  So, we are liberated for a divine purpose!

With liberation from the enslavement of sin comes holiness of life, the desire and capability to do what is right and good.  It comes as the free gift of God’s grace declared in Baptism.  In Romans and Galatians, we read about the liberty that is the possession of God's children (e.g. Romans 8:21 KJV and Galatians 2:4).  In 2 Corinthians, St. Paul associates liberty with the presence of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17).  In the Epistle of James, we read about "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25).  The Gospel of John says that the instrument through which this liberty is imparted is "the truth" (John 8:32).  And Christians are warned not to abuse their liberty in Christ (Galatians 5:13; 1 Peter 2:16).

As followers of Jesus Christ and citizens of his kingdom, we are in possession of a spiritual liberty that no earthly authority can take away from us.  May our citizenship in that realm guide the exercise of our liberty we also enjoy as citizens of “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Let us pray:

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the
earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace:
Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the
strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in
accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

                                                                       The Book of Common Prayer, 1979