Episcopal Press and News

Guam Churches Estimate Losses

Episcopal News Service. July 7, 1976 [76230]

AGANA, Guam -- Episcopal church properties alone suffered nearly $117,000 loss in the typhoon which swept the Mariana Islands in late May, according to estimates made nearly one month after the disaster. Insurance payments will cover only about half the damage done to the churches, parish housing and schools which are major focal points of life on this Island.

A report to the Rt. Rev. Edmond L. Browning, Bishop-elect of Hawaii -- whose jurisdiction includes this area -- indicates that both churches in the archdeaconry of Micronesia were heavily damaged in the rain, floods and high winds and in the emergency measures taken after the typhoon had passed.

Archdeaconry officials reported to Bishop Browning -- who is currently Executive for National and World Mission at the Episcopal Church Center in New York -- that the loss not covered by insurance amounts to $62,000, a sum that is believed to be far beyond the area's capabilities to raise. They pointed out that, far more than in domestic parishes, the schools, parish halls and day care centers associated with the two churches -- St. Andrew's and St. John the Divine -- are real centers of community life and vital to the work of the mission area.

The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief sent an immediate grant of $2,000 to Guam to assist in emergency relief within five days of the disaster and will accept designated gifts to assist the district in its rebuilding efforts. Checks marked for Guam Relief can be sent to the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017.