Hope and Healing
I am just completing my first month as the pastor of North Hollywood UMC, and what a month it has been! The wonderful welcome on Epiphany Sunday started the new year and our new ministry together in celebration of the journey to come. Little did we know that wildfires would destroy ares of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, displace thousands of residents and devastate communities throughout Southern California.
In the aftermath, our Love Thy Neighbor mission team located and responded to the needs of the Little Tujunga Fire Station, providing snacks and essential items to support their work and give them energy as they battled to save homes, pets, people and livelihoods. Our church took up a special offering for those impacted and we raised $2000 that were exchanged into Target gift cards, distributed to those in need. And the North District arranged a Service of Hope and Healing at Pasadena First UMC for all churches in the North District to support those who’ve suffered great loss.
Norman and Patty Kelsey, as the lay leaders of the North District, were asked to be part of the service and I volunteered to help where I was needed and thus was assigned to a team who would pray for those who needed prayer and anoint those with oil. Anointing is not a common United Methodist practice, but it is done at special services as a way to bless and prepare people for challenging journeys to come. At this service of Hope and Healing with those affected by the wildfires, there would surely be some who needed prayer and blessings for the difficult days to come. Norman and I, prayed for and blessed several people, with some stopping to explain all they’d lost and friends about whom they worried, and others who prayed and moved quickly back to their seats. As we finished up, I noticed that Pastor Andre Wilson had come forward to receive prayers and anointing, and since we were finished in our station, Norman and I joined the District Superintendent to pray in solidarity with our brother, pastoring at the now-burned Altadena UMC.
We gathered around him, arms outreached to encircle him in our prayers. Our District Superintendent Rev. Garth Gilliam, prayed and soon Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank joined us. During this prayer, time stood still: the pain and heartache of the week came out in tears and we were bound together in this liminal space in which the Holy Spirit was welcome and present.
And then it was done. The Spirit had come, done her work and departed, leaving us in awe.
The service was healing in a way I had not expected: the music of hope and struggle soothed our “sin-sick souls” like that Balm in Gilead; The community of Altadena UMC, who had lost so much, defiantly sang and shouted their praises to God; the display of compassion from the churches of the North District was a visible witness to our obligation to love our neighbors.
As the rain falls and the fires are contained, we move into a different phase of disaster response. Maybe the emergency response is complete, but there will be months, even years to support those who need to rebuild, relocate and renew the hope of those affected. May God bless those who’ve lost so much, and may God bless our efforts to help.