By Carol Childress (November 2001)

Staten Island is home to hundreds of police and firefighters and was especially hit with losses. Senior Pastor Daniel Mercaldo, of the Gateway Cathedral in Staten Island (http://www.gatewaycathedral.org)

wrote, “Please forgive the delay in response, but we are in the midst of a siege on this city. Staten Island was affected greatly, with many workers at the Towers that morning. Our pastors are on call with the Red Cross in the large Family Assistance Center on Pier 94 in Manhattan. We are involved in a massive relief program sponsored by the Ground Zero Clergy Task Force, a coalition of about 150 pastors and churches in the city who are working together to coordinate ministry and funding for special needs.

This is a time for the Church to demonstrate the pure LOVE of Christ. People are emotional. Churches are full. Hearts are open. We are being very cautious not to let people think or feel that we are on the attack evangelistically. This is a time to ‘let our light so shine, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven.’ Many have come to Christ and many more will, but our focus right now is on showing our city that the Church is ready and willing to help in ANY way we can. How grateful we are for the body of Christ around the world who are praying, giving, and coming to help. The most important need right now is prayer. Out of the ashes, NYC will be a better city to live in as we allow God to heal this hurt.

We must be prepared for what has happened. We need community involvement BEFORE things like this happen. We found ourselves without the proper certification for the counseling, crisis intervention, and chaplainries that were required by the Red Cross and other city agencies. With all of our education, training and experience, we had not received the certification for acceptance in the community for this kind of crisis intervention. We have learned a great lesson. Our entire staff of eight pastors is now certified by the Red Cross for counseling in the major centers throughout the city. This took time and effort, but has been done in the past two weeks. We should have been ready before this happened.”

“Used with permission of Leadership Network. 800-765-5323. http://www.leadnet.org”