Anglican TV documents the inundation and rebirth of New Orleans' Free Church of the Annunciation during Katrina, and it's amazing priest at the time, Fr. Jerry Kramer. Watch it all.
I came to know Fr. Jerry and his family when they showed up at St. Luke's in Baton Rouge a few days after Katrina with, according to Jerry, all he needed to keep going: "The chalices, the checkbook, and Noel". (Noel was the church's Jack-of-all-trades). I watched Jerry slog through with a smile what I was having a hard time just comprehending ("cognitive dissonance" indeed!). It was both a joy and inspiration to watch he and Stacy, his wife, work tirelessly and selflessly to find all the parishioners, get back to the church and their home, and start rebuilding. Nothing - and I mean nothing - stopped Jerry and Annunciation.
I always wondered what putting total trust and total faith in The Lord looked like - after seeing Fr. Jerry, Robin, and the fine folks at Annunciation, now I know. His exit from the Diocese of Louisiana is a great loss for us all. But Fr. Jarry's timeless understanding of the Christian faith, and how to live it, is at odds with the current timely understanding of The Episcopal Church (tm).
I am truly humbled to have known him during this time.
Father Jerry's blog is here. He is currently looking to head back to Africa - send him a few bucks to help his mission take root (he has links on his sidebar).
1 comment:
I grew up there many moons ago. I remember climbing the outside walls pretending to be the human fly (much to the consternation of the sexton and Fr. Acosta) while my mother did the altar guild duty.
When I drove past the church a few weeks ago, those outer walls look the same.
Prayers for the parish that the inner heart and soul of the church be a place for spreading the Gospel of Christ.
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