As the wreckage is cleared from the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Baptist leaders in the area say their city needs prayers to pick up the pieces.
Joel Kurz, who serves as pastor of The Garden Church and moderator of Baltimore Baptist Association, said probably greater than any tangible need is the fact that the tragedy was “just emotional and traumatic for a lot of people.”
Kurz said he spoke with a first responder and listened to her recount everything she experienced in the early morning hours of March 26 after the cargo ship Dali hit the bridge and caused the collapse, leaving six people presumed dead.
An opportunity to listen
The first responder was “not a Christian, so it was an opportunity for me to listen to her and process with her and be there,” Kurz said.
Ellen Udovich — director of BCM/D Ready, the disaster relief arm of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware — said area Baptists are doing their best to meet any physical needs that are there too.
She said Baltimore “has a robust coalition of voluntary organizations active in disasters,” including Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, plus private sector partners.
“We’ve collectively had ongoing coordination calls with the state department of emergency management and local emergency management,” Udovich said, noting that currently all of the known needs of crews in port, port workers, public safety, recovery and debris teams and small businesses in the area are being met.
She said BCM/D Ready feeding volunteers are on standby if needed to backfill or relieve Salvation Army teams currently providing hot meals for workers and responders.
Providing support
BCM/D Ready also trained several local pastors in basic spiritual and emotional care skills after the collapse, and those pastors are now equipping their congregations to care for friends, neighbors and coworkers who have been impacted by the tragedy.
“We are also encouraging churches to support the Baltimore International Seafarers Center, which is ministering to crews in port and the Dali crew,” Udovich said.
The center is run by the Episcopal Church, but multiple denominations are involved in ministry there, she noted. Churches are providing homemade cookies and treats for center volunteers to take to ships.
Udovich said they’re looking for other ways to reach out and have encouraged churches to pray for survivors and the people close to those who are presumed dead.
Prayer is ‘big part’ of response
Kurz said there’s been a “good opportunity for churches to step up in prayer” in the wake of the tragedy.
“One of our sister churches, Redemption City Church, organized a prayer gathering — a vigil for those who were lost — and that was a great testimony to the hope we have in Christ,” he said.
Kurz said he can only imagine the ripple effect of those six lives lost and that “concern and prayer for families has been a big part of our response in Baltimore.”
“It’s a reminder for us of the importance of the gospel and building healthy churches and proclaiming the gospel,” he said.
To him, the quick collapse of “something as magnificent and powerful as the Key bridge” is a reminder that “one day everything will collapse at the coming of Christ.”
“We must proclaim the gospel and prepare the city for that day,” Kurz said.
