Parishes Struggle in Wake of Hurricane Irene

From North Carolina to Maine, Episcopalians joined their neighbors to clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. The Episcopal News Service reported that parishes along the storm path suffered various levels of damage and many Episcopal Church congregations in dioceses along the east coast canceled their Sunday services on Aug. 28 because of predictions that Irene would hit that day.

According to David Jette, Head Verger at the Parish of Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan, "We shut our doors and canceled all Sunday services for  perhaps the first time in our 314 year history. I can say with absolute verity that this has never happened in my 26 years at Trinity." The rector and vicar of Trinity chose to close both Trinity and Saint Paul’s Chapel at 6:00pm on Saturday with no re-opening until Monday at 7:00am. Jette added, "Trinity was spared the worst of the winds but with the heavy rain, August 2011 has turned out to the be the wettest month ever in New York City."

A report came in through the V-List from Richard Lamlin of St. John's Episcopal Church in Essex, CT that power outages were common throughout the region. He posted on Monday, August 29th, "My town of East Haddam was clobbered by Hurricane Irene. I don't expect power before the weekend. I managed to get out to a friend's home with power and hot water and coffee!  The church in Essex escaped harm, but still has no power. Keep us in your thoughts!"

Feel free to post any additional information that you might have about this event on facebook.com/vergerguild.

VGEC Yearbook and Conference Deadlines Approaching

The new 2011 Vergers' Guild Yearbook will be closing for publication on Saturday September 10, 2011. If you have not already done so, please go tomembership.vergers.org and login to upload your photo for the yearbook. To see samples of the hundreds of photos already uploaded for the VGEC Yearbook, click HERE.

As of today, there are 36 days left until the National Eucharist and Conference of the VGEC at Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio. Early registration for the conference also ends on Saturday September, 10, 2011 so please register today. The cost of registration is now $200 but will increase to $225 after September 10th.

The deadline for applying for a scholarship to help defray the cost of the conference is September 1, 2011. For more information, click HERE or contact VGEC President Margaret McLarty.

Reservations at the conference hotel are available through September 15, 2011.

National Cathedral Damaged in Earthquake

For a complete report from National Cathedral, click HERE.
 
According to Richard Weinberg, a spokesman for the cathedral, the Washington National Cathedral sustained damage to its central tower. Stones fell from three of the tower's four pinnacles.

Other reports indicated that three pinnacles on the 30-story-high central tower had broken off and were lying in the grass. "A fourth is leaning," said Weinberg. "There was other minor structural damage to buttresses and smaller pinnacles."

Weinberg added that the building was immediately evacuated and there were no injuries, he said.

Cathedral Head Verger Duke DuTeil reported via text message at 2:52pm EDT that he was OK.

David Deutsch reported the he was "...in the Washington National Cathedral when a minor earthquake occurred. The whole stone edifice was rocking. Nothing fell down, off, or in though. But pretty wild. The tourists fled outdoors. This was roughly 2:45pm."

Click HERE for a first hand account from the grounds of the Cathedral.

VGEC 2011 Conference Brochures in the Mail

Watch your postal mailbox for a VGEC brochure with complete information about the Vergers' Guild 2011 Conference and Eucharist scheduled for the weekend of September 29 through October 2, 2011 in Cleveland, Ohio. This brochure has been produced in conjunction with thevergers.org web site and facebook.com/vergerguild page to keep everyone informed about the upcoming conference.

According to Ed Metz, Verger Emeritus at the host parish of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio, "This is going to be a great opportunity for Vergers from all parishes to come together for fellowship, learning, and getting to know fellow vergers from around the country and the World."

The conference organizers this year have worked hard to produce a large number of verger-related workshops and sessions that should be of interest to many. More information about the conference is available atvergers.org/conference/2011.

In addition to being mailed to over 1,000 active members of the VGEC, the brochure was also sent to over 7,000 active rectors, Deans, and Bishops throughout the Episcopal Church. Margaret McLarty, president of the VGEC added, "This is part of our ongoing effort to spread the good news about the activity and growth within the ministry of the verger to all who might be interested within the national church."

More information is available vergers.org on facebook.com/vergerguild.