A Message from Mississippi Bishop Hope Morgan Ward

Bishop Dick Wills shares this note sent by Bishop Hope Morgan Ward to the Council of Bishops. It will help you understand the situation in Mississippi a little better.

Dear friends in the Council of Bishops,

Mike and I have been overwhelmed by the loving care extended by the Council of Bishops to the Mississippi Conference. Thank you for every contact and offer of assistance. You are a means of grace to the 180,000 United Methodist people in 1160 congregations here. We hope that this message will answer collectively many of the questions you have about the emerging response to the ongoing crisis in LA, AL, and MS.

We give thanks that we have now been in touch with all the clergy of the Mississippi Conference and report that we know of none who have been injured by the wind and water of Katrina. There has been loss of life in several of our destroyed churches where members and neighbors sought refuge from the wind and water. We are creating teams of clergy to surround each impacted pastor with support and care. Ministry continues in amazing ways and in surprising places.

RV's have been found and donated to house clergy who are displaced from their homes. We are grateful to those of you in close proximity who have acted quickly to help us meet this immediate need. As these temporary homes continue to arrive, there is great relief and thanksgiving.

The salaries of all clergy will be paid without interruption regardless of the devastation to the local church and the scattering of congregations. MS was the first conference to join PACT and our ministries are protected in the short range with coverage for initial expenses, including destroyed offices (computers, books, robes, etc) and ministry support, including salaries. We have established a conference advance for the needs of churches with scattered congregations and impacted clergy and damaged facilities. We anticipate great need for local church support, including clergy compensation, during the long-range time of recovery.

Communications infrastructure has been devastated by the storm and the use of the toll-free number at the Marion Edwards Recovery Center in NC has made possible the initial connections of gifts and needs.

You continue to offer help in a variety of wonderful ways. Please check www.mississippi-umc.org <http://www.mississippi-umc.org/> web page so that you can inform others in regard to volunteers, donations, work teams and emerging needs. It is our hope to connect what is offered and what is needed as efficiently as possible.

A huge challenge is the care of internally displaced families in all our communities. Thank you for your offerings of shelter and long-term housing. Often families can be reunited if they have the resources to get to their destination. One Jackson congregation has organized a team of people to visit with those housed in the Coliseum here and to ask the simple question, "Do you have family and friends you seek to reach?" The answer is often yes, and the offer of transportation is the greatest gift we can give. The screening of families for relocation across the country is beyond our capacity and the capacity of FEMA and others at this time. We are keeping a record of each offer of hospitality you have extended. Pray with us for creative solutions to this pressing, urgent need. By some estimates, there are 500,000 internally displaced persons in MS (population: 3 million) who fled Louisiana before, during, and after Katrina.

I continue to be amazed at the patience and perseverance of the laity and clergy of the Mississippi Conference. These are times that try us - days without electricity, cell service, land lines, water - and yet there is overwhelming sense of the enormity of the disaster and the need for cooperation and helpfulness. Next door from our conference office, the fellowship hall of Galloway UMC has been transformed into a maternity ward and six families with newborns, including one family with twins, has been welcomed. Sharing abounds amid the suffering and light shines in darkness. On Sunday, a yellow butterfly fluttered over the bread and cup on a makeshift table by the ruins of one of our churches in Gulfport as we spoke the familiar words, Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. The best of all, God is with us.

With gratitude for the rich connection we share,


Hope Morgan Ward
Bishop, Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church