A Spiritual Recovery Two Years After Hurricane Katrina

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) --'The windows tell a soulful story at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church. Two years after Hurricane Katrina, this New Orleans congregation boasts a perfectly manicured lawn, colorful flags blowing in the breeze and newly painted, air-conditioned interiors. Yet the streaked and clouded windows remind visitors that this church, which sits on a corner of Canal Street under the shadow of Interstate 610, was inundated with six feet of water for more than two weeks.

Grace Lutheran's buildings sustained $1.3 million in damage; only $400,000 was covered by insurance. Grace is one of seven Louisiana congregations of the ELCA that suffered extensive storm damage, including flooding produced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Thanks to an informal network of volunteers from more than 170 ELCA congregations in 26 states, the congregation is debt-free and engaged in rebuilding the community around it. Hundreds of volunteers came to muck out the building, disassemble the pipe organ, and hand-scrub the mold that grew to the peak of the cathedral ceiling. "Even though we're not there yet, the progress from where we were to where we are now is just unbelievable," said Beth Wee, a member of Grace Lutheran. The building features new landscaping, an expanded kitchen, showers and sleeping quarters for volunteer work groups. "We're creating an oasis of new beginnings," said the Rev. Philip A. Blom, Neenah, Wis., who served as Grace's interim pastor until June 2007.

The congregation established Saving Grace, an effort to provide assistance to New Orleans families in conjunction with the ELCA Texas- Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) and other disaster relief agencies. LDR is a collaborative ministry of the ELCA and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The work is far from over, said the Rev. Michael W. Rinehart, bishop-elect, ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod. "The need is actually increasing as the caseload (of families) is increasing." Rinehart, who