St. Paul's reverend recalls 9/11

BY DANIEL MCDERMON | amNY.com

September 8, 2006

Reverend Stuart Hoke worked at Trinity Church on September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center collapsed across the street. Firefighters and rescue workers slept in the church pews while working day and night to search for survivors. (Willie Davis/ Veras)

The Reverend Dr. Stuart Hoke is the Parish Missioner and Staff Chaplain at Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan. On September 11, 2001, he tended to hundreds of people who sought shelter in Trinity Church, on Broadway at Wall Street, before being evacuated. In the months afterwards, St. Paul's Chapel ministered to thousands of Ground Zero workers.

What is the overarching feeling that you hold onto, five years after 9/11?
That's an unforgettable event that will be seared upon the heart forevermore... It's still a source of great, great grief, because it was such a loss -- a loss of security, a loss of friends, a loss of this part of Manhattan. But I think because of what St. Paul's was about, there's also this tremendous memory of brightness and people -- humanity at its best -- serving each other. And people coming here in droves, looking for respite; that is, rest, hospitality, a chance to recuperate, a chance to be fed and clothed and whatever people need.

You've said the church's mission is one of reconciliation and forgiveness. What does that mean?

We work on opportunities to bring people together; especially people in conflict... On 9/11, we were reading familiar Scriptures in the church, and when the towers fell, I was reading the words "You have heard it that it was said, 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,' but I say to you, pray for your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you so that you can be children of your father in heaven." It's kind of a jarring word to be preaching at the time of the towers collapsing... It was our nation's very first strike against terrorism. It was a spiritual strike, and it wasn't the kind of strike that we normally think of when we think of strike.

Did 9/11 do more to undermine people's faith, or reinforce it?
Both. I did know some who were tremendously challenged by the events... feeling a lot of anger and fury, not only at God, but at the events themselves. It really was a situation that caused a crisis in faith for some. For others, they began to see God bringing good out of evil just like that, and light out of darkness. Within two days, [St. Paul's] began to be a center of brightness and light and hospitality in the midst of terrible suffering. You see the human spirit go into high gear, and you see God Almighty go into high gear, and you can't help but be refreshed and inspired by that.

What are you going to be doing on 9/11 this year?
We begin that day as we've been doing for five years, by ringing this great bell of hope. We do that on the anniversary of the moment when the first tower was attacked, and we do it in concert with an interfaith community of clergypersons, representatives from the 13 great religions of the world will be here, and they will stand with the rector of Trinity Church at the Bell of Hope, and they will ring the bell and they will use the fire department peal for a fallen comrade -- four sets of five peals. It's a memorial to those who died. We'll also say the prayer of St. Francis: "Where there is darkness, let us sow light. Where there is injury, let us sow pardon."

Do you worry that telling your story over and over will diminish the horror you witnessed, or erode the power of that day?
No. I have found many occasions to tell this story. I don't tire of it. It does not diminish the intensity of the event in any way. It's really important for people to hear that we are survivors as a people, as a nation, that this city is recovering, that we did a great piece of work right after the disaster, and that we continue to do some really good things. It's really heartening to me to be committed to life in Manhattan. I live nearby, so I'm very committed to this part of town, and seeing its recovery and its growth.