Episcopal Press and News
Churches Damaged in San Francisco Quake, Bishop Emphasizes Interdependence
Episcopal News Service. October 26, 1989 [89200]
Ann Scott, Diocese of California
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25 -- Just four days after an earthquake that registered 7.O on the Richter scale and that killed hundreds of people and caused billions of dollars of damage to the San Francisco Bay Area, the Diocese of California held its 140th diocesan convention in Grace Cathedral.
"We are people who build our lives on top of a fault," said the Rt. Rev. William E. Swing in his convention address. "And despite a 7.O earthquake this week and the predictability of more in the future, we plan to stay and to live -- on top of a fault."
The convention was shortened to one day, but most of the delegates attended, some of them braving BART (rapid transit) rides under the bay or driving several extra hours to get there.
In his talk, Bishop Swing applauded those "whose trip to this cathedral today was made twice as long by the closed bridge and whose own inward healing was incomplete, still [they] journeyed here to strengthen the Body."
"An earthquake strips us of our self-possession," Bishop Swing said. "In an instant, we see how amazingly interdependent we really are -- how much we need each other, belong to each other.... Despite the tragedy and fallen treasures and the sure price that must be paid for restoration, the Bay Area is a more human and loving place this Saturday than it was last Saturday. We have glimpsed something of the 'breadth and length and height and depth' of ultimate values that we have in common."
The tiled vaulting over the choir area in Grace Cathedral was damaged so that part of the cathedral was closed off to the convention and all other services that have been held since the quake. The choir area will remain off bounds until structural engineers are convinced that the space is safe.
In the immediate days after the quake, calls that could get through came from all over the world offering prayers and assistance.
Bishop Samir Kafity of Jerusalem returned to San Francisco from a speaking tour on the East Coast to bury his longtime friend, Ramzi Asfour. Asfour, a member of St. Francis Church, Novato, died in the collapse of the Cypress section of the freeway in Oakland. He served on the companion diocese commission that links the Diocese of California with the Diocese of Jerusalem.
Of all the churches in the Diocese of California, St. Peter's in San Francisco was the most heavily damaged. The church's original building was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, and it was rebuilt in 1913. The October 17 earthquake destroyed the plaster in the church and severely damaged the 3-foot-high brass altar cross. It took parishioners two days to shovel out the rubble.
St. Peter's will hold services elsewhere until the church buildings can be declared safe. Its rector, the Rev. John Butcher, reported that All Saints', Pasadena, has sent a check for $15,000. Butcher also said that unsolicited, but welcome, appeals to assist St. Peter's in rebuilding have been started by St. Peter's in Washington, New Jersey, as well as in the California parishes of St. Aidan's in San Francisco, St. Matthew's in San Mateo, and St. Stephen's in Belvedere. There are no estimates yet on the costs of repairs.
St. Luke's, a large brick-and-mortar church located near the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, is open, but has had to cordon off its side aisles because of damage to the vaulting. During the 1906 earthquake, St. Luke's was dynamited to make a fire wall. It was rebuilt in 1909. The Rev. Victor Wei, rector, said that the repair work will cost "in the six figures," but the structural engineers reported that the building is safe to occupy during restoration.
While the epicenter of the earthquake was located in the Diocese of El Camino Real, amazingly little damage was done to the church buildings in that area, which is just south of the Diocese of California. Many of El Camino Real's parishes are now involved in relief work.
The Rev. Robert Seifert, El Camino Real's financial administrative officer and a structural engineer before he was ordained a deacon, said that St. Luke's, Hollister, sustained no damage, and only minor structural damage occurred at St. John the Baptist, Capitola.
Calvary Church in downtown Santa Cruz, which is a wooden Gothic-style church, had its bell fall and also received some minor damage. The Red Cross, however, is using the church's facilities to cook meals for the hundreds of homeless in that area.
In nearby Watsonville, a heavily Hispanic area, Seifert reported that All Saints' Church was busy helping with local relief work. Many residents of that area are now living in tents. The church's organ was damaged, and the building also lost some of its windows.
Contributions for earthquake relief in the two California dioceses may be sent through the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, designated for use in earthquake relief. Emergency grants of $5,000 have already been given to the two dioceses by the fund.