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Waiting and praying: Oil spill prompts church response Mallory McCall, Jun 25, 2010
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. NAVY
An oil containment boom deployed by U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving Personnel surrounds New Harbor Island, La., to mitigate environmental damage from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
By Mallory McCall Staff Writer
Swinson Schipman, a longtime, faithful member of First United Methodist Church in Pensacola, Fla., has missed more than a few worship services and choir practices in recent months. That’s because he’s been taped up in a Tyvek protective suit while skimming oil sheen, tar balls and coagulated oil from the ocean’s surface in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr. Schipman’s duties as a shipmate on a 37-foot charter fishing boat changed drastically when British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and leaking between 66 and 120 million gallons of oil into the Gulf.
“The waters are closed,” said Mr. Schipman. “We can’t fish now.”
The spill is already six times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off the Alaska coast—and is still growing. It’s devastated Gulf Coast tourism as well as the real estate, fishing and deep-sea drilling industries.
BP hired and trained crews from Mr. Schipman’s boat, the Nothin’ Matters, and other local charter boats to assist in the cleanup process. The boat’s crew works from sunrise to sundown, corralling oil within a 5-mile distance from the shoreline between Orange Beach, Ala., and Pensacola Beach, Fla., about a 30-mile stretch.
“Sometimes you have good days and sometimes you have bad,” said Mr. Schipman. “Right now, the oil really hasn’t coated the beach yet, so we really feel like we’re doing some good.”
It’s hard work, says Mr. Schipman. Some of the oil masses have the consistency of mayonnaise and can weigh a couple hundred pounds. The skimming crew uses “sausage booms,” shovels and stick-free mats to fish out the globs of oil. They wear two pairs of gloves and tall rubber boots taped over their protective suits, and in the Florida heat they can only work in their protective gear for 15 minutes at time before having to take a break and cool off.
“Every day is a new experience because it’s something no one has dealt with before,” said Mr. Schipman. “There’s no manual that tells you how to do these things. You got to crawl before you walk, and we’re just doing what we can do.”
Churches react
United Methodist churches near the Gulf are frustrated with the extent of the oil spill—and the fact that members can’t volunteer without going through extensive training to become Hazmat-certified—the safety training required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for people handling, transporting or even preparing paper work for hazardous materials.
“We can’t have a day when the church congregation goes out to clean up the beach,” says Mr. Schipman. “We are not there yet.”
“There are times we feel helpless, but that’s where prayer comes in,” adds the Rev. Geoffrey Lentz, associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Pensacola, Fla.
At the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference event, Bishop Paul Leeland asked everyone to turn to the person next to them and spend a few moments praying for the oil spill disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.
“As the days have unfolded, each of us has watched the news that has continued to increase our anxiety and uncertainty about the impact of this disaster on our environment and our people,” Bishop Leeland said. “This is the time for us to be the Church and not give into despair.”
Some United Methodist churches have hosted prayer vigils where people of all denominations and faith traditions were invited to pray for the Gulf and its people. Others have organized services of healing for creation and the community, and still others have posted suggestions for a more sustainable, environmentally conscious lifestyle on their church websites.
According to the United Methodist Church’s Social Principles, the church has a responsibility to place a high priority on change in economic, political, social and technological lifestyles to support a more ecologically just and sustainable world, ultimately leading to a higher quality of life for all of God’s creation.
“I believe the terrible crisis in the Gulf of Mexico demonstrates the relevance of God’s renewed creation,” said Florida Bishop Timothy Whitaker, who chairs the Council of Bishops' God’s Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action task force.
A couple years ago, Bishop Whitaker said, it was difficult to get churches to respond to the call for creation care. But now he feels certain the spewing pump of petroleum and its ecological and economical consequences will get people’s attention.
“Our responsibility in this area is not peripheral, but central,” said Bishop Whitaker. “The God we worship created it all and has invited us to help take care of it.”
Louisiana’s response
The Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church’s Disaster Response Ministry is determined to offer relief to the coastal communities still recovering from the damage of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike, and are now faced with the fear of losing their marshlands, estuaries, animal life and possibly their jobs.
But the conference’s typical response for hurricane and flood relief does not necessarily apply to this situation.
“It’s much easier to gut a home and rebuild a home compared to what we are facing now,” said the Rev. Darryl Tate, executive director of the disaster response ministry. “This is territory that has never been plowed.”
Disaster Response staff members recently met with pastors and laity from the three Louisiana communities that have been hit the hardest—Buras, Dulac and Grand Isle—to learn how they could help. Pastors said first and foremost they are seeking to provide spiritual and emotional care for the families and workers.
The conference plans to send ministers who are certified in crisis counseling, volunteer teams to host Vacation Bible Schools and translators fluent in Vietnamese, Cambodian and Spanish to help communicate with immigrant fishing communities.
At the Louisiana Annual Conference event, clergy and laity also assembled 6,000 devotional kits, which included New Testaments and copies of The Upper Room donated by the General Board of United Methodist Men. The kits were sent home with local church pastors from Buras, Dulac and Grand Isle and handed out to the workers and community.
“We take Mr. Wesley’s ‘the world is our parish’ to be our mandate and want to help ‘the least, the last, the lost’,” said Mr. Tate.
Churches and Disaster Response are doing what they can, but feel limited in the ways they can help. Until the oil spill is declared a national disaster, the area cannot get the government resources it really needs.
Conference leaders are praying for direction, raising funds to hire case managers and encouraging people to support the Gulf Coast Civic Work Act, which would provide job-training opportunities and increase employment to aid in the recovery of the Gulf Coast region.
“This is every bit as dramatic as any hurricane, and when the hurricane resides, we rebuild,” said the Rev. Milton Gutierrez, district superintendent for the Dallas South District of the North Texas Conference, who was instrumental in helping with relief efforts following 2005 hurricanes along the Gulf. “But this hasn’t resided, and we can’t rebuild a marsh.”
Louisiana does not have beaches; its marshes act as a buffer between the Gulf and the City of New Orleans. Should the spreading oil kill the swamp, the city would be unprotected, making it an even more vulnerable to flooding and hurricanes.
“This blatant disregard for ecology is as much as an accident as drunk driving,” said Mr. Gutierrez. “The industrial carelessness is criminal.”
Making an effort
Even landlocked churches are making an effort to help the Gulf.
Linda Steele, a member of First United Methodist Church in Bryant, Ark., is collecting nylon pantyhose for the cause. She saw a segment on the news about a non-profit, ecological organization called Matter of Trust that is collecting pantyhose and hair clippings—both animal and human—to make oil-absorbing booms to send to the Gulf Coast.
“It’s such a great way to use resources that would otherwise end up in the landfill,” said Ms. Steele.
Although she has decided to leave the hair collecting up to the local salons and pet groomers, she has asked the women of Bryant FUMC to ditch their nylons for the summer and instead donate them to cleanup efforts.
Matter of Trust’s natural-fiber recycling mobilization is proving to be successful. Thousands of volunteers are signing up for “stocking stuffer” parties and “Boom-B-Qs” where they fill the legs of the hose with hair scraps. The homemade booms are then sent to one of the 19 donated warehouses located throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Within the last month, enough materials have been collected to make 25 miles of oil-absorbing boom. Matter of Trust volunteers are now concentrating on booming and deploying in hopes of making more room in the warehouses. So far, 10 miles’ worth has been stuffed. For information, visit www.matteroftrust.org.
As for Mr. Schipman, he’s willing to try anything—hair booms, bigger skimmer equipment and especially prayer.
• The Gulf of Mexico has 1,631 miles of coastline and over 16,000 miles of shoreline (including bays and inland waterways).
• Nearly half of all U.S. coastal wetlands—over 5 million acres—are located along the Gulf.
• The coastal plains of the western Gulf are used by nearly all of the migratory land bird species of the eastern U.S., as well as many western species.
• From New Orleans seafood restaurants to Florida vacation rentals, the Gulf’s annual tourist industry is estimated at over $100 billion.
• The Gulf is home to four of the top seven fishing ports in the United States and seven of the top 10 seaports.
• The Gulf is home to an estimated 45,000 bottlenose dolphins.
• The Gulf waters are home to 73 percent of the shrimp and 59 percent of the oysters harvested in the U.S. each year and a total of 1.3 billion pounds of seafood valued at over $650 million.
—Sources: Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, USA Today
Oil, gas exploration
• One-fourth of U.S. domestic natural gas and one-eighth of U.S. oil is extracted from the Gulf.
• The offshore oil and gas industry employs 55,000 workers in the Gulf.
• In 2006, the offshore rigs extracted 470 million barrels of oil.
• Dollars spent by BP on clean up: $17.5 million/day.
• BP profits (1st quarter 2010): $93 million/day and market value: $156.2 billion.
• Punitive damages for 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill: $1 billion (settled in 2009, reduced from original $5 billion).
• Exxon profits: $19.42 billion in 2009, $45.2 billion in 2008.
—Sources: Minerals Management Service, Environmental Protection Agency, The Washington Post, Fortune
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. NAVY
“Sometimes you have good days and sometimes you have bad,” said Mr. Schipman. “Right now, the oil really hasn’t coated the beach yet, so we really feel like we’re doing some good.” 
“As the days have unfolded, each of us has watched the news that has continued to increase our anxiety and uncertainty about the impact of this disaster on our environment and our people,” Bishop Leeland said. “This is the time for us to be the Church and not give into despair.” 
Disaster Response staff members recently met with pastors and laity from the three Louisiana communities that have been hit the hardest—Buras, Dulac and Grand Isle—to learn how they could help. Pastors said first and foremost they are seeking to provide spiritual and emotional care for the families and workers. 
Louisiana does not have beaches; its marshes act as a buffer between the Gulf and the City of New Orleans. Should the spreading oil kill the swamp, the city would be unprotected, making it an even more vulnerable to flooding and hurricanes. 
Matter of Trust’s natural-fiber recycling mobilization is proving to be successful. Thousands of volunteers are signing up for “stocking stuffer” parties and “Boom-B-Qs” where they fill the legs of the hose with hair scraps. The homemade booms are then sent to one of the 19 donated warehouses located throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. 
