In the second episode of the Remembering 9/11 series, Sarah Zylstra tells the rest of Christina and Brian Stanton’s story—a return to an apartment littered with scraps of World Trade Center papers, an attempt to cope on their own, and an encounter with a church called Redeemer Presbyterian.
Brian and Christina in the days after the attack, wearing donated clothes and sleeping on friends’ couches / Courtesy of Christina Stanton
The Stantons were two of the 1,000 people who joined Redeemer in September 2001. The church staff worked like crazy to care for new—and existing—traumatized members. They rapidly beefed up the counseling center. And they funneled volunteers and $2 million—sent in from churches around the country—to relief efforts.
The effort was exhausting, and not without cost.
While New York churches carried most of the ongoing burden of 9/11 care, churches around the country began to grapple with how religious extremism changed the way Americans thought about religion altogether.
In these stories of brokenness and beauty, we see that God was, and is, and always will be at work—even in the darkest moments.
Resources and references from this episode:
“Truth, Tears, Anger, and Grace” (Tim Keller’s sermon to Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 16, 2001)
“A Service of Sorrow, Self-Humbling, and Steady Hope in Our Savior and King, Jesus Christ” (John Piper’s sermon to Bethlehem Baptist Church on September 16, 2001)
“When Bad Things Happen” (Bert Daniel’s sermon to Capitol Hill Baptist Church on September 16, 2001)
“Terrorism, Justice, and Loving Our Enemies” (by John Piper on September 12, 2001)
“21 Ways to Comfort Those Who Are Suffering” (by John Piper on September 12, 2001)
“Boatlift, An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience” (video documentary on the boat rescue evacuation September 11, 2001)
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The Gospel Coalition