Six hundred sixty-two people from New Jersey died in the tragedy of September 11. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey is directly across the bay from lower Manhattan, about 22 miles, and many people commute by ferry every day to work in Manhattan. June Stitzinger-Clark is the pastor at Atlantic Highlands and Navesink, New Jersey United Methodist Churches. She has participated in two UMCOR disaster response training academies and has worked with the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference for almost two years to help develop their disaster response plan. Since last fall, she has been co-chairing the newly formed New Jersey Interfaith Partnership for Disaster Recovery.
The Atlantic Highlands and Navesink churches were blessed not to have lost any members. But many people in their area and nearby Middletown died in the tragedy. In a conversation with an UMCOR staff member, June described what happened that day and how she, the church, and the community responded:
"It was the clearest day I can remember. On very clear days it looks like NY is very close. When the first plane hit the tower, I thought it was an accident as many people did-- some terrible failure with the plane. My husband and I went down to the harbor to pray. Four other people from church pulled up right behind us. We formed a prayer circle and just then the second plane went in. We spent ten minutes in prayer. More people were arriving in the harbor area. News of the other planes in Pittsburgh and at the Pentagon came through. I was very proud of my church members. They showed up and we prayed fervently for people as they were dying. I came back to the church and called families that I knew had people in the buildings. I wasn't able to get in touch with everyone. One of my lay leaders, Geri Reisch, who is our church's disaster response coordinator, said "how about if my husband and I (both lay speakers) call people in the church." They called everyone I hadn't already called. When people weren't home, they left a message saying that the church was with them in prayer, and if they needed something to contact her. They asked the people who were home if they were alright and if they needed anything, and she prayed with a lot of people over the phone. That connection really pulled people together.
"I went back to the harbor and spent most of the day there. It was very difficult to get accurate information, but at first we were told that we would be getting a lot of wounded who would be evacuated by ferry. A number of people came together to set up a large staging area and it was ready in an hour. I was very proud of my church and community. Dozens of ambulances were lined up ready to receive people from Manhattan. As the day went on it became clear that there was not going to be an overflow of injured because people either died or escaped with minor or no injuries. Not one of the ambulances was put into use. It soon became clear that people who were arriving on the ferries from lower Manhattan needed to go through decontamination and they set up a decontamination area. We emptied out the thrift shop at St. Agnes' Roman Catholic Church of jeans, shirts, tops, and shoes because people's clothes had been ruined or contaminated.
"I was very concerned about being available as a pastor, so I wore my collar. My role at the harbor was to be present with people, and I provided lots of pastoral care. I was amazed at how many people were not visibly upset. They were in shock and euphoric that they had gotten out of lower Manhattan. People were just getting out whatever way they could, and they didn't care where they went. Many people from Staten Island and other areas came to Atlantic Highlands. Volunteers came to the harbor and drove people all over the state to take them home or to relatives. People who just met on ferries became friends with strangers and were exchanging phone numbers. It was like being in war with someone. The stories they told were tremendously sad. People walking out saw bodies in the street. Some had glass injuries because they'd lost their shoes or had stumbled and fallen. But there was a sense of camaraderie, 'we're in this together.' People were just so happy to be getting home no matter how long it took. Their priorities became very clear.
"I went from group to group to see what was needed. There were three families who had heard that evacuees were coming to Atlantic Highlands and they hadn't heard any word from their loved ones yet. Two of these families found their loved ones, but I don't know what happened to the third family. I've often included them in my thoughts and prayers. A little later it became clear that one of the things that was needed was a messenger between families who were waiting and their relatives and friends who had arrived and were waiting to be decontaminated. I began ferrying messages back and forth and nobody stopped me because of my collar.
"I talked for a while with a woman from Staten Island. She finally said, 'You know, I'm Jewish, but please pray for me.' She knew it would be another day before she got home, but that was fine with her. One woman who was pregnant had not been able to get in touch with her husband. She had lost her shoes, had glass in her foot, and was beginning to go into shock. She was very anxious about not reaching her husband. She finally reached a relative and learned that her husband had already heard she was there and had left to get her. I had to leave to go to the noon service and she was still there. But then, driving up the street I saw her walking with her husband. She saw me and held her husband's hand up as a victory sign, saying 'Everything's okay.' It was very gratifying to spend time with people in that place.
"We had an interfaith service at noon at the Roman Catholic church. At least 500 people were there. We put the word out for an evening service and there was standing room only-- 1000 to 1500 people. On Friday night we had a service at the harbor. There was no advertisement but word of mouth, and 500-600 people came with candles. On Sunday afternoon we had an ecumenical service at the harbor. We had planned on 700-800 people, and several thousand came. There were people as far as the eye could see.
"There is a Muslim family in town and we heard that they were being targeted and harassed. One of my parishioners lives near them and they went to visit them. The Muslim family came to the ecumenical service on Sunday. Our mayor talked about how we need to reach across faith lines. I was so proud of the way he responded to our community. A Sikh man whose family runs a gas station in town had been attacked. The mayor said at the service that that was absolutely against what God would want.
"The morning after the attacks such a smell permeated everything, even in New Jersey. I drove down to the harbor early that morning and saw dozens of cars in the ferry parking lot. I realized they probably belonged to people who had died. It felt like a ghost town.
"Now, six months later [note: this interview was conducted in March 2002], here in Atlantic Highlands many people are in the process of trying to deny that it happened. I've done a lot of workshops and they say that three, six, and nine months after a disaster are key points in recovering psychologically. When we talk about having a special service people say, "We're just getting back to normal, let's not take the scab off the wound." But we still need to mourn and heal. There are high rise condos down at the harbor. I know a child who lives in that building and is afraid to go out every time there is a plane. There are people who still have nightmares and daymares. We are very blessed that people from our congregations got out. But they've all been traumatized. Some people have quit their jobs because they can't deal with the trauma of going to Manhattan every day. Some are so traumatized they need hospitalization. Some are in major denial. The daymares are a post-traumatic stress symptom in which people relive the experience. Every time they look up at a building they see a plane fly into it. In working with the Interfaith, we've done some direct work with people who have been referred.
"People who are secondary victims have many needs. Many people have lost their jobs, not just those who worked in lower Manhattan, but people who worked above Canal St. are jobless. They estimated that close to 100,000 people would lose their jobs as a result of September 11. Reports in early March indicated that 132,400 jobs were lost in Manhattan in 2001-- the majority of them after September 11. Many of those who have lost jobs in Manhattan are from New Jersey. Unless they extend the unemployment benefits, many people only have a month or so left of assistance. There are many immigrants in New Jersey we need to be concerned about. And we need to educate the public, including the faith community. We need to be in dialogue with people of other faiths. God is God, even though we may not have the same faith. If we don't communicate, misunderstandings will grow. Addiction, and drug and alcohol abuse are rising as a result of September 11. The needs are just beginning to shake out. We're beginning to see that the fall out from this is going to be so much worse than we thought. There is certainly much work for the church to do, but it may be different from the work done after most disasters,since 9/11 is different from most disasters.
Photo Credit: copyright © Diana Barnett, September 2001, Used by permission. The picture(s) on this page was taken in Manhattan within a week after the collapse of the World Trade Center. Click on the photo to see a larger version.
