Message to the US member churches, 1 September, 2005



The whole fellowship of the World Council of Churches unites in prayer for the
people, leaders and churches of the United States as you come to grips with the
tragedy brought to your shores by hurricane Katrina. We pray for those who
mourn, who suffer, who search for meaning. We pray the time will come when
even those who are now most troubled in spirit will rediscover the hope of resurrection.

We pray for those who have perished and are already safe within God's
eternal keeping. And we pledge our solidarity with those who have begun the
task of rebuilding broken walls and restoring stricken lives. In particular, we hold
in our prayers all the church relief agencies, workers and volunteers who are struggling
to assist those in need.

"May the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ,
the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you
complete in everything good, that you may do his will, working among us that
which is pleasing in his sight; through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever
and ever. Amen." (Hebrews 13:20-21).