My Mom Beats President Bush to the Punch (or Prayer, In This Case)

President Bush has announced September 16 as a national day of prayer. But as seems to be the case with this administration, they're not the first to respond. Seems my Mom--the Reverend Canon Dr. Ann McElligott of Saint Andrews Cathedral of Honolulu--brought the call to prayer first (report via the Honolulu Advertiser):

Jill Coryell stood in the front row of St. Andrew's Cathedral yesterday during a prayer service for Hurricane Katrina victims, fanning her tears and clutching her granddaughter Kalei. "Our family has been horrified and devastated watching this," Coryell said after the service. She and about two dozen other business people and St. Andrew's parishioners gathered for a noontime service of prayer and reflection for all suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Rev. Ann McElligott, in her opening remarks, urged members of her parish to do whatever they could for the victims. "We live on an island far away and know the fragility of our own lives in the face of a hurricane," she said. McElligott began planning the service last week after Coryell suggested it during a phone call. "It needed to be done," McElligott said. "It's a way for people to come together and express their oneness with those who are suffering," she said. Young and old, teachers and lawyers, even visitors from Japan came together to pray for the victims. [...] In addition to offerings of prayer, Coryell, a former flight attendant, and her sister Judy Coryell, a professor of deaf education at the University of Hawai'i, said they are inviting a deaf family from the Gulf Coast to fly to Hawai'i and live in their home while the area recovers. "In times like this, we're all family," she said.

And really, it all came together because Jill Coryell made the suggestion. My Reverend Mother just followed up on it, and she and the Cathedral will be expanding on it with their benefit dinner coming up in two weekends (blogged yesterday). As they say in Australia, good on ya Mom and good on ya Jill!