[StBernard] Ministers living a resurrection story since Katrina

[Westley Annis]

Ministers living a resurrection story since Katrina 

By JULIE KAY
Advocate staff writer
Published: Apr 15, 2006

The Rev. Constance Saizon says she is living the Easter message of the
resurrection this year.

Saizon lost her home and possessions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Her church, Peoples United Methodist in New Orleans, has been unusable.

Still, she said, she knows that the "same resurrection power that brought
Jesus back from the dead is the same power that under girds me and energizes
me so I can keep on serving in Jesus name."

Though Hurricane Katrina changed the circumstances and perspectives for
Saizon and other clergy, ministry continues and Easter still brings hope.

Saizon has been living with a friend in the Baton Rouge area since the storm
and is sharing preaching duties at Roberts and St. Luke's United Methodist
churches in the interim.

She ministers to evacuees wherever she finds them, whether that be in a
church or a laundromat, she said.

"This Easter, I hope they realize that no matter what they're going through
that God will provide for them as long as they serve him and are obedient to
his will," she said.

With all that has happened, Saizon said, she still feels blessed.

"I'm not displaced," she said firmly; "I'm right where God wants me to be.
You talk about a resurrection. He's bringing me alive. He's doing a new
thing in my life."

The storm has helped her ministry,  Saizon said. "I never thought I would
have to stand in line for eight to nine hours for a food card.

A pastor friend said 'I thought I'd never have to wear a shirt from the
Salvation Army,' but now we understand. We were humbled."

The Rev. Leroy Taylor, pastor of St. Matthew AME Church in Ponchatoula, has
a similar story.

 Taylor lost his home and possessions in New Orleans East and his
Ponchatoula church had severe roof damage from the storm.

While he still commutes to his church each Sunday, he said his life has
otherwise changed in ways he could never have imagined.

He travels outside the state to talk to Katrina survivors, visits schools,
nursing homes and hospitals in his capacity as a preacher and a fellow
survivor, "but it's hard," he said quietly, talking from his new home in
Baton Rouge.

"I know one thing; God didn't bring me here to leave me alone," he said.

"We're going to have a simple Easter," he said. "God is still in the
picture. Life is still here and the sun will still shine in the morning."
His Easter message will be one of hope, Taylor said, one that he will
deliver to his congregants, but a message he said he and fellow pastors need
to hear as well in the aftermath of the storm.

He knows that hope is sometimes hard to come by. He said the people he talks
with miss their homes, friends, their way of life and even the store on the
corner.

Taylor said in his heart he knows that everyone should learn from the
resurrection. "God is still waking me up each day.

"I've cried a lot at what I lost, but I have enough sense to know it didn't
belong to me anyway," he said.

The Rev. Jim Shears, pastor of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Chalmette, saw
his church and his ministry changed by 8 to 10 feet of water in his church
and 2 feet into the second story of his home.

"Any preaching I've done since the storm has been different. It's all about
perspective and values. What's important in our lives has changed. You can't
talk about a relationship with God without realizing its pre-eminence in our
lives.

"We're so wrapped up in schedules and things and then, boom, it's gone. What
do you have left? You have your family and you have your relationship with
God and those things become giant in your life."

Since the storm, Shears compares himself to the old-fashioned circuit riders
who traveled from place to place to spread their faith.

"All I need is a horse," he joked. He's conducted weddings in Mississippi,
Kenner and a beach in Florida and funerals and baptisms wherever the needs
and his new pickup truck take him to a scattered congregation.

His wife received a job transfer to Memphis, Tenn., so Shears stays on the
road, dividing his time between his new home and his Chalmette church. The
quiet time on the highways, about a six-hour drive, gives him plenty of
opportunity to reflect, he said.
Shears said Easter services will be in a tent erected on church grounds. Two
services are planned - at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. - with a fellowship time in
between.

He expects it to be an emotional Easter after the complete devastation of
the St. Bernard Parish area in late August.

"I think it will be extremely emotional, a lot of hugging and hanging on to
one another. It will be tough on me, too," he said.

He will talk about new life, he said. Not only is there new life through
Christ, but new life at Gethsemane as the church adjusts to the needs of a
community that has been forever changed, Shears said.

"When Jesus rose, he was different than he was before. When Gethsemane
resurrects, it will be different too. Many have lost everything and that
will color the ministry, but they will be able to look around and see signs
of new life."

  
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