In August 2007, at the Reconciling Ministries Network Convocation in Nashville, TN, the Voice in the Wilderness Award was presented to St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Voice in the Wilderness award is for “taking risks, despite isolation in a wilderness, to proclaim the rightness of inclusion for all people in the church, and for standing against injustice despite that lack of support.”
Dr. Reita Lawrence, member of St. Mark’s was present to receive the award on behalf of St. Mark’s. She was asked to speak about St. Mark’s and following her remarks, she received a standing ovation.
The following is the text of the nomination that appeared in the program book:
St. Marks UMC, New Orleans, LA - Located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, St. Mark's is the only Reconciling Congregation in the state of Louisiana.
As Reconciling United Methodists gathered for the ‘Hearts on Fire’ Convocation 2005 in Lake Junaluska, Hurricane Katrina, and later Hurricane Rita, hit the Gulf Coast. Rev. Anita Dinwiddie tells how the congregation held church even as the hurricane was bearing down on the city and everyone had been asked to evacuate; many of the members of St. Mark's did not have the means to evacuate. Having been reminded that, "God will take care" of them that Sunday, many of those members were never seen again.
But two years later, St. Mark's continues to be a thriving community that remains steadfast in both its commitment to being a Reconciling Congregation and to serving the poorest of the poor. The Community Center, a separate 501c3 nonprofit corporation, has become a home base for volunteers from across the country who have come to help rebuild New Orleans. These volunteers worship side-by-side with St. Mark's members, gay and straight, homeless and prosperous, in a community where the kingdom of God is realized.
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