WE’RE
LEARNING TO
BETTER
HELP OUR
COMMUNITIES.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, he has had to tend not only to his regular duties, but deal with the nagging anxiety experienced by his parishioners in a small Mennonite congregation in the Bronx, and by members of other churches that belong to the Evangelical Garifuna Council of Churches. The council is a group of congregations of Garifuna immigrants — descendents of Caribbean slaves who have since left Honduras, Belize, and Guatemala for life in the U.S.

While the New York Garifuna churches are small in number, collectively they have not been immune to the challenges posed by Sept. 11 — some congregants have lost jobs and some knew people killed or directly affected by the terrorist attack. And all of this comes amid a context of greater economic hardship in the Bronx and other urban centers during an economic recession.

“People are expressing their anger; people are losing their jobs,” says Rev. Nunez. “We’re trying to see how we can help those in our communities.”

So it was appropriate that Nunez joined other pastors and caregivers at the first of a series of trainings that are a joint effort of Church World Service and the Conflict Transformation Program of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU).

The Seminars on Trauma Awareness & Recovery (STAR) are being held at the EMU campus in Harrisonburg, VA, and build upon the work of CWS’s Interfaith Trauma Response Trainings that have been held in the New York City and Washington, D.C., areas since Sept. 11.

The focus of the STAR trainings is to equip religious leaders in New York, Washington, and other cities with new tools to deal with the ongoing trauma caused by the events of Sept. 11 and help individual congregation members, the congregation as a whole, and as appropriate, the surrounding community. STAR is also a way for clergy to have time to meet and reflect with other religious leaders in the quiet surroundings of Harrisonburg.

The training events are being held monthly for the next two years. The two-year program is being supported by Church World Service, denominational members of the CWS Emergency Response Program Committee, and others.

The STAR curriculum focuses on trauma and healing as well as an introduction to broad justice, security and peace-building issues and frameworks, and on day four of the first training, held Feb. 18-22, the rich range of the curriculum was evident. EMU faculty introduced the concept of “study circles” to the 10 participants; study circles are a way groups of people — in congregations, for example — can meet on a regular basis and discuss critical topics in “a democratic and collaborative way,” said EMU Professor Lisa Schrich, who teaches conflict studies.

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