| Florida members touched by
terror
LAKELAND — Like millions of people around the
world, members of churches across the Florida Conference gathered to
pray, sing, share and counsel in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks on the United States. Members of the conference personally
affected by the attacks were also trying to cope.
The Rev. Clifford and Rose Patrick’s
son-in-law, Johnny Doctor, was killed in the attack on the Pentagon.
Patrick is pastor of the St. Joseph/Mt. Zion circuit in Jacksonville.
The Patricks traveled to Washington, D.C., later in the week after the
attacks to help their daughter, Andrea, cope with her husband’s
death.
A member of Palm Coast United Methodist Church
in the DeLand District is a retired battalion chief with the Fire
Department of New York who recruited many of the firefighters lost in
the collapse of the World Trade Center, according to the Rev. Durwood
Foshee. Foshee said the son of another member is a New York
firefighter and the only member of his unit known to have survived the
collapse.
The Rev. Barry White, a Florida Conference elder
and chaplain with the United States Army, said a former lay leader of
his chapel congregation recently began working in the Pentagon and
would have been a victim of the attack, but was away from his office,
which is in the part of the building hit by the hijacked airplane.
Details regarding these stories were not
available at press time, but the “Florida United Methodist Review”
will include complete stories in an upcoming issue. Churches are
encouraged to submit stories of members who are personally affected by
the attacks or any military action that may result or unique relief
efforts to Michael Wacht, assistant editor, at MWacht@flumc.org
or 1-800-282-8011, extension 100. |
