Melissa Burmeister, lost her house and parish. She has relocated to Lake Villa, IL to live with extended family indefinitely. She is looking for any work in the area, in or out of a ministry setting. Her email is jazzvicar@cox.net

Bill and Suan Barfield are fine. The house ended up with a tree in one of the extra bedrooms, but they are still there.

Jeff and Catherine Reich are originally from Jackson, Mississippi. Last I heard, they had a baby and were in Columbus, Mississippi at Good Shepherd Church (662-327-1953).

Mary Koppel had already moved to be rector of a church in Hawai'i.

Richard Easterling shares that 'stories of our ruination have been greatly exaggerated. Please know that St. Augustine's Episcopal in Metairie is intact and surviving despite some structural damage. We are planning to have our first mass since Katrina, Sept 25th. I thank the Seabury community for their prayers (keep them coming), but in contrast to what has been reported, we are doing okay.'

Mary Anne Heine in Baton Rouge is safe. They had been without electricity and water but are now up and running. Mary Anne has many family members in New Orleans which she hasn't heard from. She has not heard from her sister-in-law, Audrey, who lived in Bay St. Louis, one of the hardest hit areas. The last she heard from her was that the shingles of her roof were being blown off and the water was rising.

Dabney Smith is rector of Trinity Church New Orleans, 1329 Jackson Avenue (Lake Pontchartrain on the North and the Mississippi River on the South). His church is still standing, though he and his staff and wardens are spread throughout the country and are looking for parishioners. Trinity had been involved in a lot of outreach ministry in New Orleans prior to the storm and they hope to get up and running again as soon as possible. They are also looking to coordinate efforts with other congregations. His email: dabneyt@aol.com.

David Knight’s church was destroyed though their home had only minimal damage. He has let us know that one way to contribute to St Patrick’s, Long Beach can be found through www.dioms.org. Checks written to the Diocese of Mississippi directly, and earmarked "Hurricane Relief for St. Patrick" will get to them quickly and directly. Jennifer Knight's Photots

A.J. Heine is also okay and working for the Diocese of Lousinana to coordinate the response to all the Episcopal churches in the area, of which there are many.

Harold Roberts, Redeemer Biloxi and July DMin student, lost the church and his home.
Harold preaching
Service after Katrina

No doubt there are others but this is what I’ve been given so far.

Actions we at the seminary are taking:
Prayer, prayer, prayer.

Trying to be an active link between alums for updates, information and support of all forms.

Working to make our web page a way for this to happen more fully.

Supporting a Seabury senior, Mitch Smith, who is spending a week working with alum David Knight.

We are also gathering funds for relief work.

Encouraging displaced alums to contact us directly about ways we might offer further support in housing and/or post the information for additional requests.

The Seabury Alumni/ae Association is looking for ways to actively help other alums and their parishes. One example is Pam Sten and her class are working on restocking David's NIB collection. I heard he lost his entire theological library. Maybe the Alumni/ae Association could take on some sort of drive for books, vestments, etc as time goes on. I'd be happy to work on this, either on the alum side, or even the Seabury side. Maybe we could get a local "point person" from each class to organize. There will be long-term needs, so maybe we could discuss this further at our annual meeting, if not before. Meanwhile, additional information may be shared at our Alumni/ae Discussion Web Page.

Thank you, everyone, for your care and love. Please continue to keep in touch and to share what we do know with one another.

Faithfully,

Elizabeth