05504
Sept. 23, 2005

The perfect storms

Hurricanes are opportunity for Presbyterians
to join hands, PDA chief tells WMD committee

by Alexa Smith

SACRAMENTO, CA — The coordinator of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) told the Worldwide Ministries Division Committee (WMDC) Thursday that the hurricanes bashing the U.S. Gulf coast are an ideal opportunity for Presbyterians to set aside their differences and join in an unprecedented expression of the meaning of the gospel.

     Susan Ryan said the response of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina and likely to be compounded by Hurricane Rita could be the redemption of a church long riven by dissent.

     Ryan made her comments as the committee debated whether to establish PDA — and, possibly, several other Presbyterian relief and development programs — as related, but legally independent, non-profit corporations.

     Such non-profit (501.c.3) status would make the agencies eligible for funding that is now unavailable because of their direct links to the denomination.

     The committee later voted to study the advantages and disadvantages of such a change.

     “It’s not like we’re moving out and not being part of the church,” Ryan told the Presbyterian News Service.

     She said the change would put PDA on equal footing with such other church-related entities as the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation and the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Corporation.

     Among other programs to be included in the committee’s study are the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Self-Development of People and International Health Ministries.

     The result could be a broadly constituted Presbyterian relief and development agency.

     Because establishing a separate corporation requires General Assembly approval, the WMDC is “fast-tracking” the study. It hopes to be ready with a recommendation before the GAC’s February 2006 meeting, so that the matter can be acted upon by the 2006 General Assembly.

     “I hardly know where to start,” Ryan said, describing PDA’s current hurricane relief work (and its ongoing response to last year’s Pacific Ocean tsunami). She said word that Hurricane Rita was turning north, increasing the likelihood of further flooding in New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast, was increasing her sense of urgency.

     Presbyterian volunteers living in four tent camps in Mississippi are on alert. Those in two of the camps are prepared to move temporarily to an air force base further north.

     Ryan said PDA intends to expand its on-site outreach to 15 PC(USA)-sponsored camps in hard-hit areas, so that the church’s witness is clearly seen and will be remembered.

     “There will be a visible presence of the PC(USA) in the region for long-term recovery,” she said.

     “If there was ever a time in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to be redeemed from our fighting, now is the time,” she told the committee. “Time to be redeemed from our polarization. Time to be redeemed from destroying what our foremothers and forefathers built. … Now is the time. God has a great love for the church.”

     Ryan said she had been meditating on Psalm 130 as PDA scrambled to respond to the Gulf coast storms. The Psalm calls on Israel to “hear” the Lord, whose love is steadfast and who has great power to redeem.

     “This is a good time to know what PDA is and how it works — and how it doesn’t,” she said. She explained that the organization follows up on the short-term emergency responses of governmental and charity organizations such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Red Cross. “Understand that we specialize in long-term recovery,” she said.

     Twenty trained PDA disaster-response specialists are working in five states, she said, alongside presbytery officials and volunteers who are organizing for the long haul.