Journey into sorrow, death, destruction

Local pastor travels to New York, experiences 9/11aftermath

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- For Rev. Hank Campbell, going to New York City was a kind of Lenten journey, starting earlier than the season actually begins on the church calendar.

He spent five days at the United Church of Christ in Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York, about 30 minutes away from ground zero in downtown Manhattan.

"It was a journey into sorrow, death and destruction," Campbell said as he relaxed in a chair at New Ulm's UCC Tuesday afternoon.

Campbell's initial reason for going to New York was similar to the motivations of other Americans who want to go to New York after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 -- to be of service.

"It was also to show solidarity and care with the national community," Campbell said.

Campbell found himself of service in a part of New York City that directly faces the Atlantic Ocean, which was actually only a few blocks away from ground zero.

The First Congregational United Church of Christ in Rockaway Beach, is, according to Campbell, the "only main Protestant church in Rockaway. The rest is Catholic or Jewish."

Its pastor, Rev. Jan Powell, did a lot of grief counseling in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in Rockaway Beach on Nov. 12.

According to Campbell, Powell was "burned out and she needed some time away, so I filled in for a few days."

Powell met Campbell at JFK International Airport on the night he arrived in late January. They took the subway to the church's parsonage, where Campbell stayed while he was in New York.

The next day, he met with the church's secretary and started planning the Sunday service.

He spent the rest of the day walking around Rockaway.

"It was right across the street from a police station," Campbell said of the church. "It was the 100th Precinct, I think. Two blocks farther is the ocean."

He visited St. Paul's Chapel, which is only a few blocks from where the World Trade Center once stood. Police and firefighters were using the church not only as a site to store supplies but also as a center that provided grief counseling.

The front of the chapel was decorated with tributes to people who lost their lives in the attacks.

"It was the spiritual center of the city," Campbell said.

The reflections continued with another walk along Rockaway Beach later that day. Campbell spent the night reading and preparing for the sermon he was supposed to deliver to the Rockaway congregation.

He went back into the city the next day, Saturday, and spent a few hours at Ellis Island. He saw a Saudi Arabian delegation to an economic summit, as well as several Japanese tourists on the small boat that takes visitors there. When he arrived, he found the Statue of Liberty closed to visitors for security reasons, but he managed to visit the island's museum.

Then Sunday morning came. Leading the church services that day was meaningful and difficult for Campbell because he wasn't sure where the individual church members were in their recoveries in dealing with the tragedy of 9/11.

Campbell had even more difficulty during the meeting after the church. Many of the people in the congregation had stories to tell about what happened in September and November. Their stories combined sadness and hope, Campbell said.

"I felt very welcome," he said. "It was difficult to think of what to say because I haven't experienced it and they were all dealing with it differently. I wanted to lift up a sense of community. The spirit of the community is wonderful in New York City."

As Campbell spoke with people after the service, they openly shared information about friends, family and acquaintances and their responses to the tragic events.

Many New Yorkers Campbell spoke with still look at the skyline of downtown Manhattan and expect to see the World Trade Center towers,. The gap in the skyline gives them a sensation very much like someone who's lost an arm but still feels it.

"That sense of loss is part of their being," he said. "It's still that powerful."

The plane crash that followed on Nov. 12 gave Rockaway Beach a "double whammy," Campbell said.

Powell was even at the scene of the crash, giving grief support.

"I heard about the hurts and the healing, and they were still able to cry and laugh together," Campbell remembered.

The First Congregationalist UCC in Rockaway Beach only lost one person on Sept. 11., but New York lost a lot of people, including police officers and firefighters. One firefighter from the church, Jamie Rieker, knew a couple of the men who went down to the World Trade Center that afternoon.

Later Sunday, Campbell met up with Paul Rhode, an old friend from New Ulm who was once pastor at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in New Ulm.

Rhode was in New York scouting for a possible mission trip for later on in the year.

Like so many others, Campbell and Rhode got a first-hand view of what was left of the World Trade Center on Monday morning.

"It was the most powerful experience," Rhode said from the chapel at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., where he is now pastor. "The memorials hanging on the fence, it was solid with memorials -- that makes it very tangible to honor the memory and also the gratitude. ... They were very open to that rest of the country needs to heal too."

Campbell has wide-angle color pictures of the cleanup site.

"It was an awesome moment," he remembered. "I was in awe at the destruction, the fragile nature of things and how quickly destruction can happen.

"Another awe was the amazing recovery efforts -- the commitments, the heroism, the ability to bounce back and go on. It was awe-inspiring. It was a humbling moment. I was standing there in silence, reflecting, meditating."