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Joanne Finley is excited about her new role as Volunteer House Manager at St. Marks Community Center in New Orleans.
“The ministry of hospitality is my calling, so this is a blessing for me,” said the deaconess who is serving the Center under the auspices of the Women’s Division.
St. Mark’s Community Center, created by the Methodist church in 1909, is a project of the Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, which owns the main building of the complex. St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, physically connected to the center, is a congregation of the Louisiana Annual Conference.
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Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Center provided vital children’s programs to underserved area children, helping over 300 through the after school, mentoring, tutoring and summer camp programs. “I will be working closely with James Ross, the director of the Center, to assist in rebuilding the Board of Directors and bringing back those important community programs,” said Finley.
More immediately, she is working closely with Rev. Marva Mitchell, coordinator for the Uptown Disaster Recovery Station, in providing housing for up to 30 volunteer workers at a time in the newly renovated dormitories housed in St. Mark’s Community Center. “It will be my job to coordinate disaster work teams as they come and go, providing for their housing needs and making sure they see they city, learning everything they can about Louisiana’s situation,” said Finley, adding that she will reside in an apartment at the Center.
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Finley most recently served in a similar capacity for a community center in Laredo, Tex., also owned by the Women’s Division. “The center in Laredo had completely closed, but we were able to rebuild the Board of Directors and bring back the English as a Second Language and the GED programs,” she said.
Finley comes to Louisiana in the role of “deaconess,” a lay position “The deaconess movement is comprised of women who feel a call to serve God full-time through the United Methodist Church. Rather than choosing the pulpit, deaconesses serve in the capacity of their existing careers or expertise, such as teaching, social work, mental health and medical services. Our focus is love, justice and service,” said Finley, who received her training at New York Theological Seminary.
Hearing the stories of storm survivors is a strong motivator for Finley. “Despite everything they’ve been through, there is still joy in their hearts. Their faith makes me want to come in and do what I can do.” |
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Six National Guard chaplains have been operating out of the church, offering protestant worship services and a counseling center.
While in Baton Rouge , Barbara Duke found herself serving in the neo-natal department of Women's Hospital, working with the families of over 100 babies sent to the facility.
“I spent two days, doing ministry with the parents through the hospital's social service office. We offered counseling and spent a lot of time working with agency databases trying to reunite families. It was a joy to see loved ones brought back together,” said Duke.
One particularly touching story involved a woman and her pregnant daughter who had been airlifted out of New Orleans . The daughter, who was actually in false labor, was forced to leave behind four children, ages 13-17 with loved ones. “One of the children was a diabetic, another suffered from seizures,” said Duke.
Social workers at Woman's Hospital made several contacts with authorities and were able to reunite the children with their mother and grandmother.
The Dukes are returning to perform their ministries in a very different town. “Before Hurricane Katrina, we would drive 45 minutes south before we hit the Gulf of Mexico . Now, the ride to the gulf is only 20 minutes.
As it stands now, the towns of Buras and Venice are covered by water. We don't know what the fate of those churches are,” said Jeff Duke.
