As they are wont to do, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has sought out the voices of Louisiana residents impacted by Hurricane Ida. The result was Thursday’s half-hour Facebook Live panel discussion hosted by Darla Carter, communications associate for the Presbyterian Mission Agency, and featuring the Rev. Jim Kirk, PDA’s Associate for National Disaster; Richard Williams, interim general presbyter for the Presbytery of South Louisiana; the Rev. Barry Chance, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Hammond, Louisiana, and Chip Chiphe, a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church of Scotlandville in Baton Rouge.
Monday’s remarkable edition of “Between Two Pulpits,” the weekly webinar put on by Special Offerings’ Bryce Wiebe and Lauren Rogers, paired the Rev. Jim Kirk, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s Associate for National Response, and the Rev. Jennifer Burns Lewis, visioning and connecting leader for the Presbytery of Wabash Valley in Northern Indiana.
As news comes in of the devastating effects of Hurricane Ida in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is organizing a response that will help sustain life and restore hope in the coming days.
Miss Mable had taken to her bed.
Her New Orleans home was badly damaged when Hurricane Katrina struck in the late summer of 2005. Then, unscrupulous contractors stole her funds to repair the house.
Miss Mable had taken to her bed.
Her New Orleans home was badly damaged when Hurricane Katrina struck in the late summer of 2005. Then, unscrupulous contractors stole her funds to repair the house.
A few days before Hurricane Laura made landfall as a category 4 storm in the early hours of Aug. 27, Marie Nelson, associate director of Gilmont Camp and Conference Center in Gilmer, Texas, reached out via email to the administrators of the nonprofit Evergreen Life Services, a community for adults of differing intellectual and developmental abilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She wanted to make sure they knew residents and staff from Evergreen would be welcome to shelter at the camp if needed, just as they had done briefly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina dealt a historic blow to New Orleans, Hurricane Rita churned up to Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico and threatened to deliver a second punch to the Crescent City.
Members of the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) spend much of their time engaging corporations with whom the Board of Pensions and Presbyterian Foundation has about $12 billion invested. Its shareholder engagement process seeks to get companies to comply with General Assembly corporate criteria on environmental responsibility, peace, justice for people of color and for women, and other directives.
